Canter

Canter is a verb that means to move in a steady gait. Our word of the day originated in the early 18th century as an abbreviation for the phrase Canterbury pace from the supposed easy pace of medieval pilgrims on the way to the city of Canterbury. More recently it can be a noun referring to a horse that is somewhere between a trot and a gallop, or it can be a verb that means to walk at an easy pace. Here’s an example: I could tell my horse Charlie was getting tired when he began to canter into town instead of his usual gallop. I didn’t want to rush Charlie because I knew he’d done a lot of running that day.