gens French · revision 16370

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=la gēns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʒɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /ʒã/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ʒɑ̃s/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /ʒɑ̃(s)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gens''' ''m pl'' (plural only)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the old plural of [[gent]], [[inh|fro|genz]], [[inh|la|gēns|t=clan, family, people]] (accusative “gentem”).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|4, 107a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word is from [[m|la|gignō|t=to beget]], from the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*ǵenh₁-|t=to beget, be born]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ In Latin “gēns” first meant the clan of those descended in the male line from one ancestor, then the family, the people; in the imperial period “gentēs” meant “foreign nations”, hence Christian “gentes” “pagans”, and it also came to be a synonym of [[m|la|homō|alt=hominēs|t=people]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) This use gave the plural its masculine gender, though Old French “gent” was feminine; an adjective placed just before the noun keeps the feminine (“les vieilles gens”).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|gente]], [[es|gente]], [[pt|gente]], [[ca|gent]] and [[oc|gent]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ At the end of the 10th century the ''Passion'' of Clermont has the singular ''tota la gent'' “all the people” and the plural ''per totas genz''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start it meant an indefinite number of persons.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1100 the singular, and later the plural, named the people under someone's authority (''ses genz'', 1176–81), whence “servants” (about 1130) and “soldiers” (1273).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From about 1207 ''les gens'' meant people in general, with adjectives: ''bonnes gens'' (about 1207), ''petites gens'' (late 15th century), ''vieilles gens'' (about 1530) and ''jeunes gens'' (1538), the last now the plural of ''jeune homme''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Phrases for a profession or station followed: ''gens d'armes'' (whence [[gendarme]]), ''gens d'Église'' (about 1360), ''gens de lettres'' (1544).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Until the 18th century one could say ''dix gens'', ''cent gens''; today ''gens'' is not used with an exact number.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Gent'' and ''genz'' in the ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Sa gent'', a lord's followers, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1207 – ''Bonnes gens'' in Villehardouin.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 13th century – First masculine uses of the plural.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * 1538 – ''Jeunes gens'' in Robert Estienne.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1544 – ''Gens de lettres'' in Calvin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1668 – ''Droit des gens'', the law of nations.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|people]]: persons in indefinite number: ''beaucoup de gens'', ''des gens flânaient''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # People in general, others: ''les gens sont influencés par la publicité''.^(Larousse)

+ # With a qualifier: ''bonnes gens'', ''petites gens'', ''jeunes gens'' “young people”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # People of a profession or station: ''gens de lettres'', ''gens de maison'', ''gens du voyage''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(dated)'' A person's [[m|en|servants]] or followers: ''partir avec ses gens''.^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gent]]

+ * [[gentil]]

+ * [[gendarme]]

+ * [[la|gēns]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate learned word ''gens'' (pronounced /ʒɛ̃s/), borrowed from Latin in 1834, is the Roman clan: ''la gens Cornelia''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) Popular speech sometimes sounds the ''s'' (/ʒɑ̃s/), which writers mocked with the spelling ''gensses''.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}