Gentleman

The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or gens, and "man", cognate with the French word gentilhomme, the Spanish hombre gentil, and the Italian gentil huomo), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, the Latin generosus (its invariable translation in English-Latin documents). In this sense the word equates with the French gentilhomme (nobleman), which latter term was in Great Britain long confined to the peerage. The term gentry (from the Old French genterise for gentelise) has much of the significance of the French noblesse or of the German Adel. This was what the rebels under John Ball in the 14th century meant when they repeated:

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:When Adam delved and Eve span,Who was then the Gentleman?Are you Gentleman?

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John Selden in Titles of Honour, (1614), discussing the title "gentleman", speaks of "our English use of it" as "convertible with nobilis" and describes in connection with it the forms of ennobling in various European countries.

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To a degree, gentleman signified a man who did not need to work, and could not claim nobility or even the rank of esquire. It was at times applied genuinely or ironically to all men who did not work, leading to the phrase "gentleman of leisure" to mean "unemployed". Widening further, it became a politeness for all men, as in the phrase "Ladies and Gentlemen,..." and this was then used (often with the abbreviation Gents) to indicate where men could find a water closet, toilet, lavatory, bathroom, or restroom without the need to indicate precisely what was being described.

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Latin: Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and many words based on Latin are found in other modern languages such as English. The ...

French: French can refer to more than one article:...

Spanish: Spanish can mean:...

Gentleman related Images and Photos (experimental)

Gentleman Jack	Gentleman Joe Palooka 1946	How to Be a Gentleman (Hardcover) Book	How to Be a Gentleman (Book)
A Gentleman's Debate 1881	Olde English Gentleman	Young Gentleman in Grey Hat on Bay Hunter	Gentleman Jim Errol Flynn Alexis Smith on Window Card 1942
French Gentleman at the Court of Louis XIII	Gentleman Playing the Cello Published circa 1688-90	Steampunk Empire Gentleman's Steampunk Coat	A Gentleman Holding His Hunter in a Landscape