gentil

Forms

gentil m or f (plural gentis)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin gentīlis (“of the same clan or people; pagan”), taken by the learned route.^[2][3][1][4] Cunha dates it to the 13th century.^[5] French gentil, Italian gentile and Spanish gentil have the same source.^[1][6]

The Latin adjective is formed on gēns (“clan, people”) with the suffix -īlis.^[1][7] In Christian Latin it named the heathen, and Medieval Latin also used it for “noble” and “refined, elegant”.^[8] Nascentes sums up the Portuguese history as “of noble birth” turning into “handsome, fair”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Latin law texts of 1201 and 1226 already use gentil for a man of noble birth (homo qui fuerit gentil aut erdeiro), as Lorenzo's chronology shows.^[9] In the Cantigas de Santa Maria the word is an adjective, a gentil dona “the noble lady”, and also a noun for a heathen: one cantiga tells how the Virgin converteu un gentil, an idol-worshipper.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Vieira in 1871 still gives “heathen, pagan” as the first sense of the word.^[10] The adjective moved from birth to bearing and looks: Feijó in 1734 explains it as “of good presence”, and Folqman renders it with Latin venustus, “lovely”.^[11][12] The old Caldas Aulete quotes Camões for damas gentis, fair ladies, and Garrett for a gentil cavaleiro.^[13]

Today the sense “noble” is labelled disused by the DLP, and the usual meaning is “kind, courteous”.^[4][13] The noun gentileza “nobility; courtesy” is recorded from the 14th century.^[14]

Timeline

• 1201 – gentil “noble” in a Latin law text.^[9]
• 13th century – gentil and the plural gentiis in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[2][5][9]
• 14th century – first record of gentileza.^[14]
• c. 1430 – gentil in the Horto do Esposo.^[15]
• 15th century – gentilhomem, from French.^[16]
• 1734 – Feijó prescribes gentil, not gintil.^[11]
• 1755 – Folqman renders it “lovely”.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (dated) Of good birth; noble, gentlemanly (nobre, fidalgo).^[2][4]
2. Elegant, graceful in bearing; handsome.^[2][17][1]
3. kind, courteous, polite: pleasing by delicate feelings and fine manners.^[2][17][1]
4. Delicate, pretty, charming.^[2][17]
5. Pleasant, delightful.^[2][17]

Word family

• gentileza
• gentilmente

Related words

• gentílico
• gente
• gentil-homem
• Latin gentīlis

Usage notes

The noun gentil also names gold coins struck under King Fernando of Portugal, in several values.^[18][19][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. gentil
3. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. gentil
4. ^ a b c d Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. gentil
5. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. gentil
6. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. gentil
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. gentīlis
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. gentilis
9. ^ a b c d Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. gentil
10. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 856
11. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. gentil
12. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. gentil
13. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. gentil
14. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. gentileza
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. gentil
16. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. gentil-homem
17. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. gentil
18. ^ Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 20
19. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 657