Gentleman
/ˈdʒɛn.təl.mən/noun
A man of polite, honorable, or refined behavior, or a man of high social rank.
Did you know?The word originally signaled social rank, not kindness: in medieval English, a gentleman was literally a man of the gentry, and the “gentle” part came from Old French and Latin roots meaning “race” or “kind,” not softness.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ǵenh₁-
“to beget, give birth, produce”
Latin
Latin
gēns
“race, clan, family, stock”
Old French
Old French
gentil
“well-born, noble, of good family”
Middle English
English
gentil man
“a man of noble birth or high social standing”
Modern English
English
gentleman
“a polite, honorable man; also a man of the gentry”