gentn.²

Brit.

/dʒɛnt/, U.S.

/dʒɛnt/

Forms: 1500s gent', 1500s– gent. (with point, in sense 2), 1600s– gent. Also with capital initial.

Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: gentleman n.

Etymology: Shortened < gentleman n. (in sense 2 as a graphic abbreviation).

Chiefly British.

1. colloquial.

a. A gentleman; a man of high social standing, or one who has the characteristics traditionally associated with high social standing; a chivalrous, courteous, or honourable man. In later use also more generally: a man.In early use often difficult to distinguish from sense 2. The form ‘gents’ may be an editorial misreading for (the abbreviation) ‘gent.’. N.E.D. (1898) notes: ‘early in the nineteenth century the word was colloquial and slightly jocular; about 1840 its use came to be regarded as a mark of low breeding’.Now often in respectful or mock respectful use as a term of reference for a man or (in plural) as a form of address to a group of men.See also city gent n., literary gent n.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > gentry > [noun] > gentleman

idleman1331

gentleman1509

gent1535

gemmanc1550

gentmana1556

signor1583

gentilhomme1749

nib1819

gentry cove1837

1535 Lady Lisle Let. Nov. in Lisle Papers (P.R.O.: SP 3/15) f. 79^v To make recommendacion to..my lord her husbande and to the good Gent' that maketh so moch of my doughter.

1605 Z. Jones tr. P. le Loyer Treat. Specters 32 (margin) Another Gent of the quality lived of late in Deven..who could not endure the playing on a Bagpipe.

c1635 H. Glapthorne Lady Mother (1959) i. i. 11 Hees not a Gent' that cannot parlee. I must invent some new & polite phrases.

1799 Mrs. H. Washington Let. in Athenæum (1892) 17 Dec. 857/1 His lordship has invited sixteen gents here today.

1839 J. Gant Bench & Bar I. i. 42 I can assure these gents, that it is no joke to have one's nose bitten off.

1842 W. M. Thackeray Professions George Fitz-Boodle in Fraser's Mag. July 43/2 Gents, my researches..have brought me to a valuable discovery about which you are come to treat.

1952 F. O'Connor Let. in Habit of Being (1980) 40 This guy is one of these learned gents & I don't aim to stick my neck out too far arguing with him.

1973 R. Busby Pattern of Violence ii. 24 ‘How's tricks, Lucky?’.. ‘Be better when I'm out of this piss hole—no offence, gents.’

2015 Church Times 20 Nov. 27/1 And such a nice English gent... Oxford-educated, he loves cricket.

†b. An unrefined, vulgar, or showy man; a man who dresses and acts ostentatiously in the belief that he is stylish and dapper. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > male

gent1843

society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > parvenu or imitator of upper classes

Jack-gentleman1550

truck-knight1625

court-card1699

parvenu1787

cocktail1839

gent1843

shoneena1849

snob1848

shoddyite1865

got-up1881

shoddy1904

1843 Times 6 Apr. 4/2 Smoking outside an omnibus,..playing billiards in public rooms,..and especially wearing the hat on one side, be the signs of most unmitigated ‘Gents’.

1847 Illustr. London News 16 Oct. 250/1 His whole bearing was rather that of the ‘gent’ than gentleman.

1875 Illinois Schoolmaster Dec. 85 Itinerant teachers..taught unlettered and uncouth gents, and maidens of a doubtful age, to parse the simplest form of English sentence.

c. In the genitive, in the names of shops or occupations: men's.With reference to a public toilet or washroom for men, see gents n.

ΚΠ

1850 Christian Watchman & Christian Reflector 1 Aug. 123/7 (advt.) Kimball & Fisk,..Merchant Tailors, and Gents Outfitters.

1901 Daily Chron. 10 Sept. 9/1 Hair Dresser.—First-class gent's junior wanted.

1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §920 Hairdresser's assistant; gents' or ladies' hand.

2012 Harlow Star 5 July 71/3 Barber required with a minimum 5 years experience for a very busy Gents Barbers.

2. As a graphic abbreviation: a gentleman. Now historical and rare.

ΚΠ

1537 Manner of Receiving Sc. King (BL Add. 6113) f. 205 xxx^ti skotishe gentilmen in gownes of blak velvet... Befor y^e Scotish gents shamys & dyuerse oder instrumentes.

a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Coxcombe i. v, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Nn2/2 The Gent. is wine wise.

1706 (title) The New World of Words..Compiled by Edward Phillips, Gent.

1817 Ld. Byron Epist. from Murray to Polidori 59 My humble tenement admits All persons in the dress of gent., From Mr. Hammond to Dog Dent.

1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 1 Nov. 11/1 Charged in a Melbourne court with having drunk metho., an elderly gent. at first declared [etc.].

2012 S. Chiari Renaissance Tales of Desire (rev. ed.) Gen. Introd. 1 The printed text of Orpheus his Journey to Hell and his Musicke to the Ghostes is anonymous as it is only attributed to a certain R. B. Gent.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

gentadj.n.¹adv.

Brit.

/dʒɛnt/, U.S.

/dʒɛnt/

Forms: Middle English gente, Middle English ient, Middle English jent, Middle English– gent.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French gent.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French gent (French (now regional) gent ) (adjective) (of birth, blood, family, rank) noble, high-born, (of things) beautiful, splendid, (of the body or parts of it) attractive, shapely (all c1100), (of a person) attractive, pleasant of character (12th cent.), (of language) courteous, eloquent (early 13th cent. or earlier), (adverb) elegantly, tastefully (14th cent.; already 12th cent. in Old French in the sense ‘courteously’) < an unattested post-classical Latin form *gentus , variant (with elision of the unstressed medial vowel) of classical Latin genitus , past participle of gignere to beget (see genital adj.).Compare Old Occitan gen , adjective and adverb (in similar senses). From meaning simply ‘born’, as in classical Latin, the word came to mean ‘well-born’, ‘noble’, and by a further development, ‘noble in conduct’, ‘graceful in manners or appearance’, ‘courteous’, ‘beautiful’. With this semantic development compare gentle adj. (which is only very distantly related etymologically). The use as noun is apparently not paralleled in French.

†A. adj.

I. Senses relating to elegance and gracefulness.

1. Of (a part of) the body: shapely, slender, elegant. Often paired with fair or small. Obsolete.In quot. ?a1500 with reference to the feathers of a bird.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [adjective]

genta1275

smallc1275

slendera1400

slightc1400

gauntc1440

light-bodiedc1487

jimp?a1513

slender-bodied1611

snever1640

slim1657

gend1676

scranky1735

light built1778

sveltea1825

spindly1827

slimmish1841

slippy1883

slenderish1894

slim-down1978

a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 35 His bodi þat wes feir & gent & his neb suo scene.

c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 1193 His lymes also he bihuld, hou gent hi were and freo.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 48 As any wesele hir body gent and smal.

a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Cock & Fox l. 453 in Poems (1981) 21 I behald ȝour fedderis fair and gent.

c1600 A. Montgomerie Poems (2000) I. 70 Hir middill gent and small.

2. Chiefly poetic. Of a woman or child: graceful and elegant in manners or appearance. Obsolete (archaic in later use).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [adjective] > pretty

gentc1275

pretty1440

jant1638

dimber1665

belle1668

genty1701

prettyish1741

maidenish-looking1789

darling1805

pooty1825

pitty1826

purty1829

mooi1850

dotey1852

cute1868

c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 204 Niȝtingale & oþer wiȝte, gente.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 562 Þo vond he þere damaiseles gent & vair inoȝ.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13138 His broþer doghter, gent and smal Com þaim be for al for to bale.

1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid v. x. (heading) How that Ascanius and zoung childir gent, Assailzeit wthir, in manir of turnament.

1698 tr. Bk. Fortune sig. E^v/2 Wilt thou know thy Wives intent? Because she would seem fair and gent.

1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XVI lxvi. 97 Not nigh the gay saloon of ladies gent.

3. Of an object or fashion: tasteful in design; elegant. Also of a place: beautiful. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > aesthetic quality or good taste > [adjective] > pleasing to the aesthetic sense

gentc1300

sweet?a1366

comelyc1400

pretty1442

poetical1447

beautifula1586

concinnous1662

poetic1731

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 2139 So weren he war of a croiz ful gent, On his rith shuldre.

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1495 (MED) His jueles so gent wyth javeles wer fouled.

a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 164 Scho, this quene..enterit in a lusty gairding gent.

1677 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (rev. ed.) 65 Such a Monument, The Sun through all the world sees none more gent.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 350/1 An High Heel shooe Pinked..is a Shooe of the Gentest fashion.

4. Of speech or language: pleasing; fluent, eloquent. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > fluent or unforced

gentc1390

renablec1410

flowing1553

round1565

unracked1572

current1577

ready1583

voluble1598

facile1607

unforceda1616

fluent1625

sliding1627

unstudied1657

flippanta1677

easy1711

fast-flowing1770

fluida1794

superfluent1917

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > pleasing

gentc1390

softc1390

lusty1399

c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 724 Keep þi tonge curteys and gent.

c1430 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1871) l. 558 The goos with hire facounde so gent..Shal telle oure tale.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xiii. iii. 82 The haly promys and the bandis gent Of peax and concord.

II. Senses relating to noble or gentle birth.

5. Of high birth or rank, or having the qualities traditionally associated with high birth; courteous, honourable. Also spec. of a man, esp. a knight or warrior: valiant and chivalrous. Obsolete (archaic in later use).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > gentry > [adjective]

gentle?c1225

gentc1300

gentlemanlya1450

gentlemanlike1565

genteel1628

genty1660

gentee1664

gentlemany1728

niblike1834

nibsome1839

upstairs1942

c1300 St. Agatha (Laud) l. 35 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 194 He Axede of ȝwat kunne heo were, heo seide, ‘of gent and freo’.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 1220 Þe tueie ȝonge bachelers þat noble were & gent..strif bigonne arere.

c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 265 (MED) Bot jueler gente, if þou schal lose Þy ioy for a gemme þat þe watz lef.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. xi. sig. Z^v The prowest and most gent, That euer brandished bright steele on hye.

1672 Duke of Buckingham Rehearsal iv. 38 Is not that now like a well-bred person, I gad? So modest, so gent.

1739 G. West Canto of Fairy Queen xxvii. 6 A courteous Haviour gent and debonair.

B. n.¹

1. People of high birth or rank collectively. rare.In quot. 1952 archaic.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > gentry > [noun]

gentle bloodc1300

genta1425

gentrya1525

gentility1583

gallantry1609

gentlery1609

second nobles1625

a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) l. 3928 Jn boþe halue mony gent Wenten hom to heore tent.

1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dii*^v Than y^t seymly be sight said to y^e gent.

1737 J. Ozell tr. F. Rabelais Wks. I. liv. 371 The Gent, the Brisk, the Fair.

1952 S. O'Casey Rose & Crown (1973) 195 The time of England's queen, Elizabeth; when colour was the ornamental benefice of the noble and the gent.

†2. An honourable, courteous, or chivalrous act. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1500 (?c1450) Bone Florence (1976) l. 2133 They..þankyd þem for that gente.

†C. adv.

Perhaps: elegantly, tastefully. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) v. x. l. 16 The childir, arrayit fair and gent, Enterit in the camp alsammyn, schynnand brycht.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	gent
释义	gentn.² Brit. /dʒɛnt/, U.S. /dʒɛnt/ Forms: 1500s gent', 1500s– gent. (with point, in sense 2), 1600s– gent. Also with capital initial. Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: gentleman n. Etymology: Shortened < gentleman n. (in sense 2 as a graphic abbreviation). Chiefly British. 1. colloquial. a. A gentleman; a man of high social standing, or one who has the characteristics traditionally associated with high social standing; a chivalrous, courteous, or honourable man. In later use also more generally: a man.In early use often difficult to distinguish from sense 2. The form ‘gents’ may be an editorial misreading for (the abbreviation) ‘gent.’. N.E.D. (1898) notes: ‘early in the nineteenth century the word was colloquial and slightly jocular; about 1840 its use came to be regarded as a mark of low breeding’.Now often in respectful or mock respectful use as a term of reference for a man or (in plural) as a form of address to a group of men.See also city gent n., literary gent n. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > gentry > [noun] > gentleman idleman1331 gentleman1509 gent1535 gemmanc1550 gentmana1556 signor1583 gentilhomme1749 nib1819 gentry cove1837 1535 Lady Lisle Let. Nov. in Lisle Papers (P.R.O.: SP 3/15) f. 79^v To make recommendacion to..my lord her husbande and to the good Gent' that maketh so moch of my doughter. 1605 Z. Jones tr. P. le Loyer Treat. Specters 32 (margin) Another Gent of the quality lived of late in Deven..who could not endure the playing on a Bagpipe. c1635 H. Glapthorne Lady Mother (1959) i. i. 11 Hees not a Gent' that cannot parlee. I must invent some new & polite phrases. 1799 Mrs. H. Washington Let. in Athenæum (1892) 17 Dec. 857/1 His lordship has invited sixteen gents here today. 1839 J. Gant Bench & Bar I. i. 42 I can assure these gents, that it is no joke to have one's nose bitten off. 1842 W. M. Thackeray Professions George Fitz-Boodle in Fraser's Mag. July 43/2 Gents, my researches..have brought me to a valuable discovery about which you are come to treat. 1952 F. O'Connor Let. in Habit of Being (1980) 40 This guy is one of these learned gents & I don't aim to stick my neck out too far arguing with him. 1973 R. Busby Pattern of Violence ii. 24 ‘How's tricks, Lucky?’.. ‘Be better when I'm out of this piss hole—no offence, gents.’ 2015 Church Times 20 Nov. 27/1 And such a nice English gent... Oxford-educated, he loves cricket. †b. An unrefined, vulgar, or showy man; a man who dresses and acts ostentatiously in the belief that he is stylish and dapper. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > male gent1843 society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > [noun] > parvenu or imitator of upper classes Jack-gentleman1550 truck-knight1625 court-card1699 parvenu1787 cocktail1839 gent1843 shoneena1849 snob1848 shoddyite1865 got-up1881 shoddy1904 1843 Times 6 Apr. 4/2 Smoking outside an omnibus,..playing billiards in public rooms,..and especially wearing the hat on one side, be the signs of most unmitigated ‘Gents’. 1847 Illustr. London News 16 Oct. 250/1 His whole bearing was rather that of the ‘gent’ than gentleman. 1875 Illinois Schoolmaster Dec. 85 Itinerant teachers..taught unlettered and uncouth gents, and maidens of a doubtful age, to parse the simplest form of English sentence. c. In the genitive, in the names of shops or occupations: men's.With reference to a public toilet or washroom for men, see gents n. ΚΠ 1850 Christian Watchman & Christian Reflector 1 Aug. 123/7 (advt.) Kimball & Fisk,..Merchant Tailors, and Gents Outfitters. 1901 Daily Chron. 10 Sept. 9/1 Hair Dresser.—First-class gent's junior wanted. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §920 Hairdresser's assistant; gents' or ladies' hand. 2012 Harlow Star 5 July 71/3 Barber required with a minimum 5 years experience for a very busy Gents Barbers. 2. As a graphic abbreviation: a gentleman. Now historical and rare. ΚΠ 1537 Manner of Receiving Sc. King (BL Add. 6113) f. 205 xxx^ti skotishe gentilmen in gownes of blak velvet... Befor y^e Scotish gents shamys & dyuerse oder instrumentes. a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Coxcombe i. v, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Nn2/2 The Gent. is wine wise. 1706 (title) The New World of Words..Compiled by Edward Phillips, Gent. 1817 Ld. Byron Epist. from Murray to Polidori 59 My humble tenement admits All persons in the dress of gent., From Mr. Hammond to Dog Dent. 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 1 Nov. 11/1 Charged in a Melbourne court with having drunk metho., an elderly gent. at first declared [etc.]. 2012 S. Chiari Renaissance Tales of Desire (rev. ed.) Gen. Introd. 1 The printed text of Orpheus his Journey to Hell and his Musicke to the Ghostes is anonymous as it is only attributed to a certain R. B. Gent. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022). gentadj.n.¹adv. Brit. /dʒɛnt/, U.S. /dʒɛnt/ Forms: Middle English gente, Middle English ient, Middle English jent, Middle English– gent. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French gent. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French gent (French (now regional) gent ) (adjective) (of birth, blood, family, rank) noble, high-born, (of things) beautiful, splendid, (of the body or parts of it) attractive, shapely (all c1100), (of a person) attractive, pleasant of character (12th cent.), (of language) courteous, eloquent (early 13th cent. or earlier), (adverb) elegantly, tastefully (14th cent.; already 12th cent. in Old French in the sense ‘courteously’) < an unattested post-classical Latin form gentus , variant (with elision of the unstressed medial vowel) of classical Latin genitus* , past participle of gignere to beget (see genital adj.).Compare Old Occitan gen , adjective and adverb (in similar senses). From meaning simply ‘born’, as in classical Latin, the word came to mean ‘well-born’, ‘noble’, and by a further development, ‘noble in conduct’, ‘graceful in manners or appearance’, ‘courteous’, ‘beautiful’. With this semantic development compare gentle adj. (which is only very distantly related etymologically). The use as noun is apparently not paralleled in French. †A. adj. I. Senses relating to elegance and gracefulness. 1. Of (a part of) the body: shapely, slender, elegant. Often paired with fair or small. Obsolete.In quot. ?a1500 with reference to the feathers of a bird. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [adjective] genta1275 smallc1275 slendera1400 slightc1400 gauntc1440 light-bodiedc1487 jimp?a1513 slender-bodied1611 snever1640 slim1657 gend1676 scranky1735 light built1778 sveltea1825 spindly1827 slimmish1841 slippy1883 slenderish1894 slim-down1978 a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 35 His bodi þat wes feir & gent & his neb suo scene. c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 1193 His lymes also he bihuld, hou gent hi were and freo. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 48 As any wesele hir body gent and smal. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Cock & Fox l. 453 in Poems (1981) 21 I behald ȝour fedderis fair and gent. c1600 A. Montgomerie Poems (2000) I. 70 Hir middill gent and small. 2. Chiefly poetic. Of a woman or child: graceful and elegant in manners or appearance. Obsolete (archaic in later use). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > pleasing appearance > [adjective] > pretty gentc1275 pretty1440 jant1638 dimber1665 belle1668 genty1701 prettyish1741 maidenish-looking1789 darling1805 pooty1825 pitty1826 purty1829 mooi1850 dotey1852 cute1868 c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 204 Niȝtingale & oþer wiȝte, gente. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 562 Þo vond he þere damaiseles gent & vair inoȝ. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13138 His broþer doghter, gent and smal Com þaim be for al for to bale. 1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid v. x. (heading) How that Ascanius and zoung childir gent, Assailzeit wthir, in manir of turnament. 1698 tr. Bk. Fortune sig. E^v/2 Wilt thou know thy Wives intent? Because she would seem fair and gent. 1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XVI lxvi. 97 Not nigh the gay saloon of ladies gent. 3. Of an object or fashion: tasteful in design; elegant. Also of a place: beautiful. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > aesthetic quality or good taste > [adjective] > pleasing to the aesthetic sense gentc1300 sweet?a1366 comelyc1400 pretty1442 poetical1447 beautifula1586 concinnous1662 poetic1731 c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 2139 So weren he war of a croiz ful gent, On his rith shuldre. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1495 (MED) His jueles so gent wyth javeles wer fouled. a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 164 Scho, this quene..enterit in a lusty gairding gent. 1677 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (rev. ed.) 65 Such a Monument, The Sun through all the world sees none more gent. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 350/1 An High Heel shooe Pinked..is a Shooe of the Gentest fashion. 4. Of speech or language: pleasing; fluent, eloquent. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > fluent or unforced gentc1390 renablec1410 flowing1553 round1565 unracked1572 current1577 ready1583 voluble1598 facile1607 unforceda1616 fluent1625 sliding1627 unstudied1657 flippanta1677 easy1711 fast-flowing1770 fluida1794 superfluent1917 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > pleasing gentc1390 softc1390 lusty1399 c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 724 Keep þi tonge curteys and gent. c1430 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1871) l. 558 The goos with hire facounde so gent..Shal telle oure tale. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xiii. iii. 82 The haly promys and the bandis gent Of peax and concord. II. Senses relating to noble or gentle birth. 5. Of high birth or rank, or having the qualities traditionally associated with high birth; courteous, honourable. Also spec. of a man, esp. a knight or warrior: valiant and chivalrous. Obsolete (archaic in later use). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > gentry > [adjective] gentle?c1225 gentc1300 gentlemanlya1450 gentlemanlike1565 genteel1628 genty1660 gentee1664 gentlemany1728 niblike1834 nibsome1839 upstairs1942 c1300 St. Agatha (Laud) l. 35 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 194 He Axede of ȝwat kunne heo were, heo seide, ‘of gent and freo’. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 1220 Þe tueie ȝonge bachelers þat noble were & gent..strif bigonne arere. c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 265 (MED) Bot jueler gente, if þou schal lose Þy ioy for a gemme þat þe watz lef. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. xi. sig. Z^v The prowest and most gent, That euer brandished bright steele on hye. 1672 Duke of Buckingham Rehearsal iv. 38 Is not that now like a well-bred person, I gad? So modest, so gent. 1739 G. West Canto of Fairy Queen xxvii. 6 A courteous Haviour gent and debonair. B. n.¹ 1. People of high birth or rank collectively. rare.In quot. 1952 archaic. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > gentry > [noun] gentle bloodc1300 genta1425 gentrya1525 gentility1583 gallantry1609 gentlery1609 second nobles1625 a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) l. 3928 Jn boþe halue mony gent Wenten hom to heore tent. 1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. dii^v Than y^t seymly be sight said to y^e gent. 1737 J. Ozell tr. F. Rabelais Wks.* I. liv. 371 The Gent, the Brisk, the Fair. 1952 S. O'Casey Rose & Crown (1973) 195 The time of England's queen, Elizabeth; when colour was the ornamental benefice of the noble and the gent. †2. An honourable, courteous, or chivalrous act. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1500 (?c1450) Bone Florence (1976) l. 2133 They..þankyd þem for that gente. †C. adv. Perhaps: elegantly, tastefully. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) v. x. l. 16 The childir, arrayit fair and gent, Enterit in the camp alsammyn, schynnand brycht. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.²1535adj.n.¹adv.a1275
随便看	eleme figs element elemental elemental gods elemental religion ebony skin ebook ebook format ebook publisher ebook reader ebook version eboracum eboulement eboulements ebracteate ebracteated ebracteolate ebrangle ebriate ebriating ebrietating ebriety ebrillade ebrillades ebriose

gentn.2

gentadj.n.1adv.

gentn.²

gentadj.n.¹adv.