different between genteel vs gent

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French gentil (“gentile”), from Latin gent?lis (“of or belonging to the same people or nation”), from g?ns (“clan; tribe; people, family”) + adjective suffix -?lis (“-ile”). Doublet of gentle and gentile. See also gens, gender, genus, and generation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??n?ti?l/

Adjective

genteel (comparative more genteel, superlative most genteel)

1. Affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.
   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 407]:

     Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.

2. Polite and well-mannered.
3. Stylish or elegant.
4. Aristocratic

Derived terms

• genteelism
• genteelly

Related terms

• gentleman

Translations

Anagrams

• genelet

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Etymology 1

Short for gentleman.

Noun

gent (plural gents)

1. (colloquial) A gentleman.

Related terms

• genteel
• gentile
• gentle

Etymology 2

From Old French gent, ultimately from Latin genitum (“born”).

Adjective

gent (comparative more gent, superlative most gent)

1. (obsolete) Noble; well-bred, courteous; graceful.

   • A knyght [who] was fair and gent.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.ix:

     He lou'd, as was his lot, a Ladie gent, / That him againe lou'd in the least degree [...].

2. (obsolete) neat; pretty; elegant

   • Her body gent and small.

Etymology 3

Noun

gent (uncountable)

1. (medicine, colloquial) Short for gentamicin.

Anagrams

• Teng

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin gentem, accusative of g?ns, from Proto-Indo-European *?énh?tis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /??ent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /??en/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?d??ent/
• Rhymes: -ent

Noun

gent f (uncountable)

1. people, folk

Derived terms

• gentada
• gentalla
• genteta

Further reading

• “gent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “gent” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “gent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “gent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Old French gent, from Latin gens, gentem. Cf. gens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???/

Noun

gent f (plural gents or gens)

1. (obsolete) people, nation
2. (obsolete) tribe
3. company, those who are in accompaniment

Adjective

gent (feminine singular gente, masculine plural gents, feminine plural gentes)

1. (obsolete or humorous) nice, pleasant, or noble, speaking of a person or thing

Further reading

• “gent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From earlier Ganda; if from Celtic, possibly from Proto-Celtic *kom-dati (“confluence”), from Proto-Indo-European *kom-d?h?-ti- (“confluence”), equivalent to *?óm + *d?eh?- (similar to the town Condivincum); or related to the Celtic goddess Gontia. The name could otherwise be of non-Indo-European origin.

Noun

gent ?

1. Ghent (a city in modern Belgium)

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: Gent

References

Further reading

• “ghent”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000

Old French

Pronunciation

• (early) IPA^(key): /?d?ent/
• (by 13th century) IPA^(key): /?d?ant/
• (Late Old French) IPA^(key): /??ant/
• Rhymes: -ant

Etymology 1

From Latin gentem, accusative singular of g?ns. The nominative singular descends from a regularized form: oblique stem gent- and 3rd declension nominative -is.

Noun

gent f (oblique plural genz or gentz, nominative singular gent, nominative plural genz or gentz)

1. people, population

   la Franceise gent - the French people

Descendants

• French: gens
• Norman: gens
• Walloon: djin

Etymology 2

From Latin genitus (“begotten”), perfect passive participle of gign?.

Adjective

gent m (oblique and nominative feminine singular gente)

1. fair, beautiful, handsome
2. brave and beautiful
3. polite

   Synonym: gentil

Usage notes

The Dictionnaire Étymologique de l'Ancien Français points out the difficulty of translating this word into modern languages. The adjective describes an ideal person in a given context: brave warriors in chansons de geste, loyal good men in tales of courtly love, polite people in all occasions, who are always handsome or beautiful. It also notes the meaning 'well-born, aristocratic', mentioned in some dictionaries of Old French, is extremely rarely attested.

Declension

Related terms

• gençor (comparative), also spelled gensor

Swedish

Adjective

gent

1. absolute indefinite neuter form of gen.

Yola

Noun

gent

1. Alternative form of geint