Gentleman Once Meant a Man With Land
A gent is an informal gentleman. The longer word originally described social rank, not manners.
A gent is an informal shortening of *gentleman*. The longer word was originally a legal and social classification: a gentleman was a man entitled to bear arms but below the rank of nobility, living on his own land without working for wages. It said nothing about behaviour. Only later did it come to mean a man of good manners, which is how it survives. The root is Latin *gentilis*, of the same family or clan, from *gens*, a clan.
- An informal gentleman. *A gent in a hat.*
- Gentleman — the full word. *A gentleman.*
- Gentry — the landed class. *The gentry.*
- Genteel — refined. *Genteel.*
- Latin — *gens*, a clan. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | gent | A gent. |
| Plural | gents | Gents. |
| Full form | gentleman | A gentleman. |
| Related | gentry | The gentry. |
| Latin | gentilis | Of the same clan. |
- A gent held the door open.Informal.
- The gentry owned the land.History.
- Gens means a clan.Etymology.
The gens family
- Gentleman — a man of a recognised family
- Gentry — the landed class below the nobility
- Genteel — refined, borrowed a second time from French
- Gentile — of another nation, in biblical use
- Jaunty — the same French word borrowed a third time
Short for *gentleman*, from Old French *gentil*, of noble birth, from Latin *gentilis*.
What did gentleman originally mean?
A man entitled to bear arms, below the nobility, living on his own land. It described rank rather than manners.
Are genteel and gentle the same word?
Yes. Both come from French gentil, borrowed at different times, along with jaunty.