To intimidate or discourage someone from doing something.
Variant or archaic form of 'daunt,' from Old French 'danter.' This form preserves an older pronunciation or dialectal usage common in Middle English.
Some English verbs like this one exist in multiple forms—'daunton' versus 'daunt'—showing how language consolidates over centuries. Speakers eventually favored the shorter version, making 'daunton' a fossil word.
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