cavort

intr.v., -vort·ed, -vort·ing, -vorts.

1. To bound or prance about in a sprightly manner; caper.
2. To have lively or boisterous fun; romp: The children cavorted in the water, splashing and ducking each other.

[Possibly alteration of CURVET.]

verb

To leap and skip about playfully: caper, dance, frisk, frolic, gambol, rollick, romp. See work/play.

Origin: 1794

Barely was our nation founded when we began what we called cavorting. And a curious word it was too, mentioned with something of an apology when it was used by a North Carolinian in a letter in 1794: "The Hon. J--e'cauvauted', don't laugh at the expression, it suits the idea I meant to convey." Nobody knows where the word came from, but we know the idea it conveyed: acting up, prancing about, carrying on.

And there was plenty of cavorting as the country expanded westward. An Illinois magazine in 1830 said cavort "expresses the conduct of an individual who fancies himself the smartest and best man in the world." And a boasting speech of 1831 declared, "I'm a ring-tail roarer, all the way from Salt River. So, none of your cockloftical cavorting about me, or I'll be into you like a streak of lightning." The Frontier (1676) is gone now, but we still know how to cavort.

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has one meaning:

Meaning #1: play boisterously
  Synonyms: frolic, lark, rollick, skylark, disport, sport, gambol, frisk, romp, run around, lark about

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Dansk (Danish)
v. intr. - springe rundt

Nederlands (Dutch)
dartelen

Français (French)
v. intr. - faire des cabrioles, gambader

Deutsch (German)
v. - tollen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - χοροπηδώ

Italiano (Italian)
far capriole

Português (Portuguese)
v. - cabriolar, saltar, brincar

Русский (Russian)
скакать

Español (Spanish)
v. intr. - corbetear, retozar, juguetear, divertirse

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - hoppa omkring, göra krumsprång

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
跳跃

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. intr. - 跳躍

한국어 (Korean)
v. intr. - 뛰어다니다, 신나게 뛰놀다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - はねる, 跳ね回る, 遊び戯れる, はしゃぎまわる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يمزح, يقفز و ينط‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. intr. - ‮כרכר, קיפץ‬

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