gaunt
adj
1 bony and emaciated in appearance
2 (of places) bleak or desolate (C15: perhaps of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian dialect gand tall lean person) ♦
gauntly adv ♦
gauntness n
John of Gaunt
n Duke of Lancaster. 1340--99, son of Edward III: virtual ruler of England during the last years of his father's reign and during Richard II's minority
(Gaunt, variant of Ghent, where he was born)