gente Italian · revision 37613

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1250, Giacomo da Lentini|origins=ine-pro *ǵénh₁tim}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈd͡ʒɛn.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gente''' ''f'' (plural ''genti'')^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and dialect forms include [[roa-oit|giente]], [[roa-oit|zente]] and ⟨genti⟩.^(GDLI|6)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|gens|t=clan, family; people, nation]], from the accusative ⟨gentem⟩, a noun related to [[m|la|gignō|t=to beget]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary) It is panromance: [[fr|gent]], [[oc|gen]], [[ca|gent]], Old Spanish ⟨yente⟩ ([[es|gente]]) and [[pt|gente]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|1785) Romanian has it only indirectly, through Albanian.^(DEI|1785)

+

+ The Latin word first meant the group of those who acknowledge a common ancestor, and then family, descent, race and nation.^(DELI 1999) Under the Empire the plural named foreign peoples, and in Christian Latin the pagans, after [[grc|ἔθνη|tr=éthnē|t=nations]], which itself rendered [[hbo|גּוֹיִם|tr=gōyīm]], the non-Jewish peoples.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) That sense passed into Italian only through the learned word [[gentile]].^(DEI|1785) Wiktionary traces the noun to [[ine-pro|*ǵénh₁tim]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, where ''gente'' means people gathered together or people in general.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) GDLI quotes his comparison of the lover “como l'altra genti” (like other people).^(GDLI|6)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century the word also took the Latin senses “people, nation”, in the Italian Livy and constantly in Dante, and “group of families of the same stock”, in a Bible translation.^(DELI 1999) Giovanni Villani (before 1348) uses it for a kind of people and for soldiers, in ''gente d'arme''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Many modern phrases name a class of people: ''gente di chiesa'' (1919, D'Annunzio), ''gente di teatro'' (1965), ''gente di toga'' and ''gente di tavolino'' (1869, Tommaseo–Bellini).^(DELI 1999) ''Gente di lettere'' translates French ''gens de lettres'', which Panzini still recorded in the French form in 1905.^(DELI 1999) ''Gentaglia'' “riff-raff” (14th century) is, as Alessio recognised, Old French ''gentaille''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses ''gente'' for people.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1300–1313 – Dante uses it for “population”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses ''gente d'arme'' “soldiers”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – A Bible translation uses it for a group of families of the same stock.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1905 – Panzini records ''gens de lettres'', ''gente di lettere'' follows.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1919 – D'Annunzio uses ''gente di chiesa''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|people]], persons in general; other people, as opposed to oneself: ''Non mi importa di cosa pensa la gente.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # An indefinite number of persons, few or many, even a single person: ''C'era poca gente in spiaggia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # A class of people sharing a feature, as in ''gente di mare'' “seafarers” and ''gente di campagna'' “country people”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(literary)'' A people, [[m|en|nation]]; also a lineage or family.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(history)'' A Roman [[m|en|gens]], a group of families with a common ancestor.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(nautical)'' The crew of a ship.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(in the plural, early Christianity)'' The Gentiles, the pagans, as in ''l'apostolo delle genti'', Saint Paul.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Troops, soldiers.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gentaglia]]

+ * [[gentaccia]]

+ * [[genterella]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gentile]]

+ * [[genere]]

+ * [[la|gens]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Gente'' is a collective noun in the singular; the plural ''genti'' is literary and means peoples or nations.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) A separate archaic adjective ''gente'' “noble, gracious” was borrowed in the 13th century from [[pro|gent]], from the Latin phrase [[m|la|homō|alt=homo gentis|t=man of a noble family]], and spread through Sicilian poetry;^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|1786)^(Treccani 2011) Giacomo da Lentini addresses his lady as “chiù gente!” (most gracious one).^(GDLI|6)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}