"The fighters revolved about each other in swift curvets and gambados, their blades flashing and grating..."

-The Daughter of Erlik Khan

cur·vet.

[kərˈvet]

VERB

curvets (third person present)

1.(of a horse) leap gracefully or energetically.

NOUN

curvets (plural noun)

1.a graceful or energetic leap.

ORIGIN

late 16th cent.: from Italian corvetta, diminutive of corva, earlier form of curva ‘a curve,’ from Latin curvus ‘bent.’

gam·ba·do1.

[ɡamˈbāˌdō, ɡamˈbäˌdō]

NOUN

gambados (plural noun)

a leap or bound, especially an exaggerated one.

ORIGIN

early 19th cent.: from Spanish gambada, from gamba ‘leg.’

gam·ba·do2.

[ɡamˈbāˌdō, ɡamˈbäˌdō]

NOUN

gambados (plural noun)

a gaiter, typically one attached to a saddle to protect a rider's leg from the weather.

ORIGIN

mid 17th cent.: from Italian gamba ‘leg’ + -ado.