gentile

gentile¹ gentile, pagan

Etymology tree of gentile¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin gens

French gens

Italian gente

Latin gentilis

English gentile

French gentil

Italian gentile

From the same root · gentile¹

Latin gentilicius ← gentilis

Latin gentilitas ← gentilis

Pronunciation

• /d͡ʒenˈti.le/^[3]

Forms

gentile m (plural gentili)^[3]

Etymology

The word for a non-Jew or pagan is borrowed from Late Latin gentīlis (“heathen, pagan”), a word of Church Latin first found in Tertullian.^[4][5][6] In the plural it rendered in the Gospels Ancient Greek ἐθνικός (ethnikós, “of the nations”), from ἔθνος (éthnos, “people, nation”), in the narrow sense, proper to Hebrew, of “the (heathen) peoples”.^[1][2] The Greek in turn copied the plural of Biblical Hebrew גּוֹי (gōy, “nation”), used of the peoples other than Israel.^[7][8][3] The Latin adjective itself comes from gēns (“clan, people”);^[6][9] Sabatini–Coletti and the GDLI trace the Christian sense to the plural of the noun in the sense “rural communities”, that is, pagans.^[6][9]

DEI notes that the word reached Italian, Occitan and French in learned form, through the language of the Church.^[4] Nocentini keeps this biblical sense quite apart from the development of the adjective “kind” and refers it to gente.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first records are a Paduan homily of the second quarter of the 13th century and Bono Giamboni's Vizi e Virtudi, before 1292, where the word means a person who follows a religion other than the Jewish or Christian one, normally a pagan.^[11][1] Giamboni writes “Quella è la fede degli antichi, che si chiamavano gentili e appellasi idolatria” (that is the faith of the ancients, who were called gentiles, and it is called idolatry).^[9]

Semantic evolution

Dante glosses the word in the Convivio: “li gentili, cioè li pagani” (the gentiles, that is, the pagans).^[9] Old Italian also used it more narrowly for anyone outside the people of Israel.^[11] Tommaseo distinguished the two: all pagans are gentiles, but not every gentile is a pagan, since Socrates, he says, believed in one God.^[12] Among Jews the word came to name a person of another religion, a Christian.^[6][13]

Today the noun is met almost only in reading the Bible, and DELI, quoting Costa, calls it essentially a relic;^[1] genti is used instead in Church documents such as the decree Ad gentes.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century (second quarter) – A Paduan homily has the first record.^[11]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses gentili for the pagans of antiquity.^[1][11]
• 1304–1308 – Dante's Convivio explains gentili as pagani.^[9]
• 1861–1879 – Tommaseo–Bellini distinguishes gentiles from pagans.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical, chiefly plural) In the New Testament and early Christian writing, a person who was neither a Jew nor a Christian; a gentile or pagan: San Paolo fu detto l'apostolo dei gentili.^{[2][5][6][13]}
2. Among Jews, a person of another religion.^[6][13][14]

Adjective

1. (literary) Pagan, non-Jewish.^[2][3]

Word family

• gentilesimo
• gentilità
• gentilesco

gentile² kind

Etymology tree of gentile²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin gens

French gens

Italian gente

Latin gentilis

English gentile

French gentil

Italian gentile

From the same root · gentile²

Latin gentilicius ← gentilis

Latin gentilitas ← gentilis

Pronunciation

• /d͡ʒenˈti.le/^[3]

Forms

gentile m or f by sense (plural gentili, superlative gentilissimo)^[3]

Etymology

The adjective “kind” is borrowed from Latin gentīlis (“of the same clan or family”), from gēns (“clan, family, stock”) with the suffix -īlis.^{[1][10][2][8]} It is a learned word, a Latin loan for Nocentini and for the GDLI.^[10][15] In Medieval Latin the sense moved from “belonging to a clan” to “of good family, noble”, the sense of the word in Old Italian, Old Spanish and Old French gentil, the source of English gentle.^[4][15] Nocentini compares generoso, which went the same way from “of good birth” to a moral quality.^[10] The same word is French gentil and Spanish gentil.^[10][16]

Gentiluomo, and after it gentildonna, may be French gentilhomme: Machiavelli uses the phrase only of France, and Prati takes the compound from French.^[1][17]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the sense “noble” in the Ritmo laurenziano, a Tuscan poem of the late 12th century.^[1][13] Brunetto Latini praises a king “per gentil legnagio” (for his noble lineage).^[15]

Semantic evolution

From nobility of birth the word passed to nobility of mind: DEI finds the moral sense “high-minded, generous, courteous” already in the second half of the 13th century, “delicate” from the 14th and “graceful, pleasing” from the 15th.^[4] DELI dates “of graceful appearance” to Iacopone, before 1306, and “courteous in manner” to Francesco da Barberino, 1314.^[1] Dante's line “Amor, ch'al cor gentil ratto s'apprende” (Love, which quickly takes hold of a noble heart) belongs to the high-minded sense.^[5][6][7] In the Convivio he equates gentilezza with nobilitade.^[1]

The old sense “noble by birth” survives only in gentiluomo and gentildonna.^[6] Today the everyday meaning is “kind, polite”, and the word is the usual courtesy formula in letters, Gentile signora, with the superlative gentilissimo, abbreviated gent.mo.^[2][7] Farmers call a cultivated plant or its fruit gentile as opposed to wild, and craftsmen call wood or metal that is easy to work gentile.^[2][5][7]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – Gentile “noble” in the Ritmo laurenziano.^[1]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses gentilezza.^[1]
• Before 1292 – Gentiluomo in Bono Giamboni.^[1]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone uses gentile of a graceful appearance.^[1]
• 1304–1308 – Dante's Convivio equates gentilezza with nobility.^[1]
• 1314 – Francesco da Barberino uses the word of courteous manners.^[1]
• Before 1675 – Lorenzo Panciatichi uses it for “cultured, refined”.^[1]

Meanings

Adjective

1. kind, courteous, polite in dealing with others: Sei stata gentile ad aspettarmi fuori dal cinema.^{[2][5][6][13]}
2. Showing courtesy or consideration: Ci ha mandato un biglietto molto gentile.^[2][5][14]
3. In courtesy formulas: troppo gentile! to thank someone, and Gentile signore, Gentile signora at the head of a letter.^[2][5][13]
4. (literary) Noble-minded, capable of high feelings: un cuore gentile.^[2][6][7]
5. Fine, graceful, delicate in appearance: Ha un viso gentile e occhi chiari.^[2][5][13]
6. Delicate, pleasant in taste or smell: un vino dal profumo gentile.^[2][5][14]
7. (archaic) Noble by birth.^[2][6][7]
8. (agriculture) Of a plant or its fruit, cultivated, not wild.^[2][5]
9. Of wood, metal or soil, easy to work.^[2][13][7]
10. (Tuscany) Of a person, slight, of delicate build.^[5][7]

Word family

• gentilezza
• gentiluomo
• gentildonna
• gentilmente
• gentilizio
• ingentilire