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gentile

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Italian has two words spelled gentile, both from Latin gentīlis: the biblical noun for a non-Jew or pagan, and the everyday adjective “kind, courteous”, which DELI and GRADIT treat as separate headwords.[1][2][3]

gentile1 gentile, pagan

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

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

Usage notes

Il gentil sesso, “the fair sex”, for women, is now dated or jocular.[13][7] In literary use l'idioma gentile or il parlar gentile is the Italian language.[13][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1786
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 678
  10. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  15. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 674
  16. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  17. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 492