entry
cavorting
/kəˈvɔːrtɪŋ/Prancing or moving about playfully and energetically
From American English, with disputed French or English derivation cavort (To prance).
Word Ancestry
In 1793, somewhere in the United States, a horse could be described as a “cauvaut”—a wonderfully odd-looking word for an animal prancing or bustling about. By 1829, the spelling had settled into “cavort,” and humans soon claimed the horse’s territory: people could cavort too, preferably with enough noise and motion to make the scene impossible to ignore. The origin remains disputed. One theory connects it with French-derived “curvet,” a horse’s leap, while another hears an intensified colloquial ca- or ka- attached to “vault,” as in “jump!” Either way, the word preserves a tiny circus ring: imagine a horse springing sideways, then a group of people imitating it at a party. Remember cavorting as horseplay with hooves removed—energetic movement that has escaped the stable.
The Story
In 1793, somewhere in the United States, a horse could be described as a “cauvaut”—a wonderfully odd-looking word for an animal prancing or bustling about. By 1829, the spelling had settled into “cavort,” and humans soon claimed the horse’s territory: people could cavort too, preferably with enough noise and motion to make the scene impossible to ignore. The origin remains disputed. One theory connects it with French-derived “curvet,” a horse’s leap, while another hears an intensified colloquial ca- or ka- attached to “vault,” as in “jump!” Either way, the word preserves a tiny circus ring: imagine a horse springing sideways, then a group of people imitating it at a party. Remember cavorting as horseplay with hooves removed—energetic movement that has escaped the stable.
Kin & Kindred
From 'cavort'·To prance, frolic, or move energetically
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary