Gent

How to spell gent

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce gent

What does gent mean?

1. nounAn informal word for a man, especially a well mannered or smartly dressed one.

Gent in a sentence

• The gent at the front desk signed for the parcel.

• An elderly gent held the door open for the queue.

Where does gent come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is a casual shortening of 'gentleman', which itself joins 'gentle' and 'man'. The 'gentle' part traces back through Old French gentil to the Latin gentilis, meaning 'of the same clan or family' and, by extension, 'of good birth' or 'well bred'. Over the centuries 'gentle' shifted from describing high social rank to describing mild, courteous behaviour, while 'gentleman' kept the older sense of a man of standing. The clipped form 'gent' appeared in everyday English speech around the early 1800s as a breezy, informal label for a man, often a well dressed or polite one. The same gentilis root surfaces in relatives such as 'genteel', 'gentry', and even 'gentile', all circling the idea of birth and breeding.

How the word is built

• clipped form of gentleman: gent- (from Latin gentilis, of good birth)