gentilhomme

Forms

gentilhomme m (plural gentilshommes, feminine gentillefemme)^[1] Old French wrote the two parts separately: gentilz hom in the nominative and gentil home in the oblique case.^[2] Anglo-Norman spellings include gentilhome, gentilhoume and gentishomme.^[3] The spelling as one word dates from the 13th century.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

It is a compound from French gentil² (“noble”) + homme (“man”).^[7][4][8] The two elements were at first written apart (Old French gentil hom, about 1050) and were joined in the 13th century.^[6][4] The first element keeps here its old sense of good birth and nobility, which goes back to Latin gentīlis (“of the family, of the clan”);^[9] Bloch and Wartburg note that this old sense survives only in a few archaic phrases and in this compound.^[9] The second element is hominem, the accusative of homō.^[9]

The French word was borrowed into the southern Romance languages: Italian gentiluomo, Spanish gentilhombre.^[9] Littré compares Old Occitan gentils hom, Catalan gentil home and Portuguese gentil-homem.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the exclamation E! gentils hom in the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050), addressed to a man of noble birth;^[7][6] the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has mult est gentilz hoem “he is a very noble man”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word joined noble birth to the qualities expected of it: the Anglo-Norman texts of the 12th century use it of a man whose high birth goes with fitting conduct.^[3] Rey dates the moral sense, a man who shows generosity and nobility of feeling, to 1080, and the narrower sense of a nobleman attached to the person of the king or a prince to 1549.^[6][8] Under the Ancien Régime the word stayed bound to the legal status of the nobility;^[2] Littré explains that before the ordinances of 1579 and 1600 it covered both nobles by descent and men ennobled by military service or by holding a fief.^[2]

After the Revolution the word took on a mainly moral content, while still recalling an older state of society;^[6] the dictionaries now mark it as historical, dated or literary.^[5][8] Phrases include vivre en gentilhomme “to live without working” (1668, La Fontaine) and the scornful gentilhomme de parchemin (1866, Littré), a nobleman by letters patent.^[8] Its derivatives are gentilhommière (1606), a country house of a nobleman and later any small manor in the country, and gentilhommerie (1669), used ironically for the quality of a nobleman.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Gentils hom appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[7][6]
• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland has gentilz hoem.^[7][8]
• 1120–1140 – First Anglo-Norman record.^[3]
• c. 1155 – Wace uses it of a man of noble birth.^[8]
• 13th century – The compound is written as one word.^[4][6]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records the sense “nobleman attached to the king or a prince”.^[8][6]
• 1606 – The derivative gentilhommière is first recorded.^[6]
• 1668 – La Fontaine uses vivre en gentilhomme.^[8]
• 1669 – Gentilhommerie appears, used ironically.^[6]
• 1866 – Littré records gentilhomme de parchemin.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A man of noble birth, a nobleman.^[5][7][8]
2. (historical) A nobleman attached to the person of a king, prince or great lord, as a chamberlain or equerry.^[5][8]
3. (dated or literary) A man who shows generosity and nobility in his actions and distinction in his manners, a gentleman.^[5][8]

Word family

• gentilhommière
• gentilhommerie

Related words

• gentil²
• homme
• gentillesse
• Latin gentīlis

Usage notes

Both parts take the plural: gentilshommes, pronounced /ʒɑ̃.ti.zɔm/.^[4][5] Littré notes that in the 17th century the word was pronounced as if written genteilhomme.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f 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
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France