| 单词 | gentle and simple |
| 释义 | > as lemmasgentle and simple a. Of a person: well-born, belonging to a family of high social position; having a high social rank; esp. belonging to the class of the gentry. In heraldic use: of a rank entitled to wear or display heraldic arms (cf. gentleman n. 1a). Now only in gentle and simple (cf. simple adj. 3a).Originally (esp. in Britain) gentle was used synonymously with noble, but was later distinguished from it, either as designating a person of a high social rank below the nobility, or as a wider term designating a person of high social rank, without specific reference to that rank.Now generally considered old-fashioned and chiefly used with historical reference.See also gentleman n., gentlefolk n., gentlewoman n., etc. 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 ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 129 Noble men & gentile ne beoreð nane packes. a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 273 Ah noble men and gentile and of heh burðe ofte winnen luue lihtliche cheape. a1350 in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 11 Myn eorles ant my barouns gentil ant fre. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1180 Þe gentylest of Judee in Jerusalem biseged. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. cxlviij/2 Hyt apperteyneth not that one so gentyl a man as I am be seruant to hym. a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 226 Quhone servit is all vther man, Gentill and sempill of everie clan. 1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. f. 90v Gentle of base are those who, extracted from low parentage, raise themselves to Gentrie by their vertue. a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Loves Pilgrimage ii. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aaaaaaaa4v/1 I am as gentle as your self, as free born. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1683 (1955) IV. 306 I dined at one Mr. Houblons a rich & gentile french Merchant. 1788 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum II. 121 Nae gentle dames, tho' ne'er sae fair, Shall ever be my muse's care; Their titles a' are empty show. 1860 W. M. Thackeray Four Georges iii, in Cornhill Mag. Sept. 273 All sorts of people, gentle and simple, about whom countless stories are told. 1959 J. Oliver Lion & Rose (U.S. ed.) i. iv. 77 The balance of power wavered, with the Queen on one side, the Kirk on the other, and the people, gentle and simple, turning some this way and some that. 1992 D. R. Hainsworth Stewards, Lords & People 123 At any place..where a landlord's neighbours, both gentle and simple, were likely to be gathered together. < as lemmas |
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