CULTURE WATCH : Dare to Learn <i> Gauntlet</i> , <i> Gantlet</i>

What’s the difference between gauntlet and gantlet? How does throwing down the gauntlet differ from running the gantlet?

Gauntlet , derived from the French le gantelet, means a protective glove worn with medieval armor. When a knight wanted to challenge someone to battle, he threw his gantelet at his adversary’s feet. If the enemy picked it up, he accepted the invitation to fight. Today we still say that someone who has challenged an adversary has “thrown down the gauntlet.”

The meaning of gantlet comes from the Swedish word gatloppe, literally “a running of the lane.” It refers to a punishment devised by the Swedish army in which a soldier guilty of an offense was forced to strip to the waist and run between two rows of his comrades as they beat him vigorously with lashes or sticks. “To run the gantlet” still means to endure brutal punishment from a number of people in quick succession.

In railroading, a gantlet is a place where two sets of tracks temporarily converge to negotiate a narrow passage such as a bridge or tunnel.