regardant

English

A kangaroo and an emu reguardant supporting the arms of Hobart.

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman regardant, Middle French regardant.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈɡɑːdn̩t/

Adjective

regardant (not comparable)

1. (heraldry, of an animal) With the head turned toward the back of the body. [from 15th c.]
   • 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 25:

     The dog was waiting for him, her paws on the second tread, pere regardant with a happy lolling tongue.

   • 1993, John Banville, Ghosts:

     I see a forked beast squatting on the midden of the world, red-eyed, regardant, gnawing on a shinbone: poor, dumb destroyer.

2. Watchful, attentive; contemplative. [from 16th c.]
   • 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, II.3:

     To horse, to horse: thus once Eurydice, / With looks regardant, did the Thracian gaze […].

   • 1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter VIII, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 84:

     He stood regardant for a moment.

   • 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 183:

     And now others, casually regardant, passed the place in automobiles ….

Alternative forms

• reguardant

Related terms

• guardant

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Participle

regardant

1. present participle of regarder

Adjective

regardant (feminine regardante, masculine plural regardants, feminine plural regardantes)

1. miserly, stingy

Further reading

• “regardant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.