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gentil

Etymology and origin of the French word gentil

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inherited borrowed derived
Latin gens
French gens
Latin gentilis
English gentile
French gentil
Latin gentilicius
Latin gentilitas

gentil1 Gentile

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1488, La Mer des histoires
Borrowed from
Latin gentiles
Ultimate origin
Latin (gēns)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʒɑ̃.ti/[1]
  • IPA: /ʒɑ̃.tij‿/[1]

Forms

gentil m (plural gentils, feminine gentille)[1]

Etymology

The Gentile is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin gentīlēs (“pagans, the nations”), a noun plural that in the Old and New Testaments names the pagans as opposed to the people of Israel.[2][3][4][5][6] It is the classical adjective gentīlis (“of a family, of a people; foreign”), from gēns (“clan, people”), used as a noun.[2][3] Church Latin used it, like “gentes”, to render the Septuagint's Ancient Greek τὰ ἔθνη (tà éthnē, “the nations”), itself a translation of Biblical Hebrew גּוֹיִם (gôyîm, “peoples”) (compare goy).[2][4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in La Mer des histoires (1488, printed 1491): gentilz et infideles.[2]

Semantic evolution

In religious history it names, in Jewish usage, those foreign to the Jewish religion, and in Christian usage (Furetière, 1690) the pagans.[3][7] Saint Paul is l'apôtre des gentils.[8][9]

Timeline

  • 1488 – Gentilz et infideles, La Mer des histoires.[2]
  • 1495 – Gentilité “paganism”.[3]
  • 1690 – The pagans, in Furetière.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (religious history) A Gentile, one who is not a Jew; for the early Christians, a pagan: l'apôtre des gentils.[8][1]

Word family

  • gentilité

gentil2 nice

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis
Borrowed from
Latin gentilis
Ultimate origin
Latin (gēns)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʒɑ̃.ti/[1]
  • IPA: /ʒɑ̃.tij‿/[1]

Forms

gentil (feminine gentille, masculine plural gentils, feminine plural gentilles)[1]

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Latin gentīlis (“of the family, of the race”), whence “of good race” and then “noble, kind”, from gēns (“clan, family”).[3][5][1][4] Bloch and Wartburg give it as a Latin word and note that its palatal ⟨ll⟩ is analogical.[4] It developed like the old adjective gent.[3][4]

Cognate with Old Occitan gentil, Spanish gentil and Italian gentile.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

From the Life of Saint Alexis (about 1050) it has the Latin senses “noble by birth” and “noble of heart, brave”, both now gone, gentil hom (about 1150, compare gentilhomme) soon meant an aristocrat rather than a brave man.[3][8]

Semantic evolution

Often paired with bel, it came to describe women and the female body, and then (1160–74) what pleases by its manners or looks; about 1220 it meant pleasing through kindness and delicacy.[3][8] Bloch and Wartburg date the senses “graceful, pretty, kind” to about the 17th century.[4] It is used as a noun (faire le gentil, about 1770) and ironically (1666); in the early 20th century it came to mean “well behaved” of a child, and “tidy, sizeable” of a sum of money.[3]

The old senses survive only in archaic phrases and in gentilhomme, borrowed by Italian and Spanish, and English gentle, from the Anglo-Norman word, and English gentleman are related.[4][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – “Noble”, Life of Saint Alexis.[3]
  • c. 1080 – Gentilhomme, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1160–74 – “Pleasing in manner or looks”.[3]
  • c. 1220 – “Kind”.[3]
  • 1666 – Ironic use.[3]
  • Early 20th century – “Well behaved” (of a child).[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. kind, nice: c'est gentil de votre part, être gentil avec quelqu'un.[1][8]
  2. Pleasant, pretty, attractive: une gentille petite robe, c'est gentil chez vous.[8][1]
  3. (of a child) Good, well behaved: sois gentil.[1][3]
  4. (derogatory) Nice but no more than that: c'est gentil, sans plus.[1]
  5. (familiar) Of a sum: tidy, sizeable: une gentille somme.[1][3]
  6. (archaic) Noble, gallant.[1][8]

Word family

  • gentillesse
  • gentiment
  • gentillet
  • gentilhomme
  • gentillâtre
  • gentilhommière

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 110a
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Gentil.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/gentil. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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