# gentle
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English gentil (“courteous, noble”), from Old French gentil (“high-born, noble”), from Latin gentilis (“of the same family or clan”), from gens (“[Roman] clan”). Doublet of gentile, genteel, and jaunty.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈdʒɛntl̩/
* (General American) enPR: jĕn′tl, IPA: /ˈd͡ʒɛntl̩/, [ˈd͡ʒɛ̃ɾ̃l̩]
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: gen‧tle
* Rhymes: -ɛntəl

### Adjective

gentle (comparative gentler or more gentle, superlative gentlest or most gentle)
* Tender and amiable; of a considerate or kindly disposition.
    Stuart is a gentle man; he would never hurt you.
* Soft and mild rather than hard or severe.
    I felt something touch my shoulder; it was gentle and a little slimy.
** 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.
** 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:Raj took a deep breath, and reached out to give Armitage the gentlest little stroke. “It’s nippy out. Let’s take him inside.”
** 2023 December 6, Jessica DeFino, “Too Many Products Can Stress Out Your Skin. Here’s How to Scale Back.”, in The New York Times‎:As for daytime sun protection, Dr. Bowe said mineral sunscreens made with zinc oxide may be gentler on sensitized skin than chemical formulas.
* Docile and easily managed.
    We had a gentle swim in the lake.
    a gentle horse
* Gradual rather than steep or sudden.
    The walks in this area have a gentle incline.
* Polite and respectful rather than rude.
    He gave me a gentle reminder that we had to hurry up.
* (archaic) Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.
** 1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:"You are of gentle blood," she said […]
** 1893-1897, Charles Kendall Adams (editor), Johnson's Universal Encyclopedia
    British society is divided into nobility, gentry, and yeomanry, and families are either noble, gentle, or simple.
** [1644], [John Milton], Of Education. To Master Samuel Hartlib, [London: […] Thomas Underhill and/or Thomas Johnson], →OCLC:the studies wherein our noble and gentle youth ought to bestow their time

#### Synonyms

* (polite): friendly, kind, polite, respectful

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “polite”): rude

#### Derived terms

* flower-gentle
* gentilly
* gentle and simple
* gentle as a lamb
* gentlebeing
* gentle craft
* gentlefolk
* gentlefolks
* gentle giant
* gentlegirl
* gentle-handed
* gentlehearted
* gentle-hearted
* gentle-heartedly
* gentle-heartedness
* gentlehood
* gentleman
* gentle murder paradox
* gentleness
* gentle nor simple
* gentle or simple
* gentle sex
* gentleship
* gentlesome
* gentlethem
* gentlewoman
* gently
* go gentle into that good night
* overgentle
* tercel gentle
* ungentle

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

gentle (third-person singular simple present gentles, present participle gentling, simple past and past participle gentled)
* (intransitive) To become gentle.
** 2013, Kathryn L.M. Reynolds, Garland Roses, Kathryn L.M. Reynolds, →ISBN, page 226:“She's experienced a horrific and nasty scare and is in a state of shock, but otherwise she's relatively okay.” Conrad replied, his tone at first grim (as he recalled what he'd seen in the family room) and then it gentled to a more doctorial tone as he directed his next comments to his patient.
* (transitive, obsolete) To ennoble.
** c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:[…] For he to-day that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, / This day shall gentle his condition […]
* (transitive, animal husbandry) To break; to tame; to domesticate.
** 2008, Frank Leslie, The Killing Breed, Penguin, →ISBN:Yakima could have tried to catch him, gentle him as Wolf had been gentled, but having two stallions in his cavvy would lead to a different kind of trouble.
* (transitive) To soothe; to calm; to make gentle.
** 1996, William C. Loring, An American Romantic-realist Abroad: Templeton Strong and His Music, Scarecrow Press, →ISBN, page 201:A hornist, his playing gentled by perspective, is out of sight within the woods, but his notes are heard through or over the murmuring mix of bird song and breeze in leaves.

### Noun

gentle (plural gentles)
* (archaic) A person of high birth.
** c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:Gentles, methinks you frown.
** 2012, Lizzie Stark, Leaving Mundania: Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-Playing Games, Chicago Review Press, →ISBN, page 43:While actual medieval societies were full of lots of peasants and a few rich and noble gentles, SCA personas tend to be nobles rather than commoners.
* (fishing) A maggot used as bait by anglers.
** 1846, Douglas William Jerrold, “The History of St. Giles and St. James”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):Pooh! the whole thing is as alive and wrigging as an angler's box of gentles
** 1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 67:Years ago, on Victoria's Port Phillip Bay, the recognised bait for garfish were `gentles', a genteel word for maggots, which were especially grown for gar fishermen.
* A trained falcon, or falcon-gentil.