Other forms: prancing, prances, pranced
To prance is to move with high springing steps. A prancing horse, prance about, prance around the room.
Of a horse it is a real gait — high knee action, more display than progress — and it is what dressage and parade horses do. Of a person it is mocking: prancing about means moving in a way meant to be admired. Note prancing; and that prance is probably related to prank, so showing off is built into the word.
1verbpranceTo move with high springing steps.
“The circus ponies pranced around the ring with feathers on their heads.”
prance is a springing movement.
Middle English prancen is a variant of pranken, to show off, probably from the same root as prank. Display is built into the word from the start.
Middle English
prancen
English, today
prance
Built from
From Middle English prancen, prauncen (“to prance”) literally “to show off”, variant of Middle English pranken (“to prank”), thus probably from the same ultimate root as prank. Cognate with bar prangezen, prangssen (“to put on airs”), gsw pranzen (“to strut”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire