regardant

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.]
   • 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 […].

   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift:

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

Verb

regardant

1. present participle of regarder

Adjective

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

1. miserly, stingy

Further reading

• “regardant” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).