gentleman
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈd͡ʒɛn.təl.mən/
ipa: [ˈd͡ʒɛɾ̃.ɫ̩.mən]
homophone: gentlemen
Forms: form: gentlemen
Etymology: From Middle English gentilman, morphologically gentle + man, partial calque of Old French gentilhome.
Senses: examples: text: I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
text: As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,[…]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get.[…]I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
ref: 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:
text: She wanted to go see a movie called Gigi, which I was not too thrilled about. But being a gentleman, I bit my tongue and said, “Okay.”
ref: 2011, Mike Pappas, Growing Up the Greek Way in the Big Apple, page 103:
glosses: Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.
examples: text: Please escort this gentleman to the gentlemen's room.
synonyms: sahib
coordinate_terms: word: lady
word: gentlewoman
word: gentlelady
glosses: Any man.
examples: text: Being a gentleman, Robert was entitled to shove other commoners into the gongpit but he still had to jump out of the way of the knights to avoid the same fate himself.
text: And when their ſcattered armie is ſubdu’d:
And you march on their ſlaughtered carkaſſes,
Share equally the gold that bought their liues,
And liue like Gentlmen in Perſea, […]
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
text: But when Adam delued, and Eue ſpan,
VVho was then a Gentleman?
ref: 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:
text: “[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: A man of gentle but not noble birth, particularly a man of means (originally ownership of property) who does not work for a living but has no official status in a peerage; (UK law) an armigerous man ranking below a knight.
examples: text: Well, la-di-da, aren't you just a proper gentleman?
synonyms: word: cockney
word: puss-gentleman
word: sissy
word: bading
word: big girl's blouse
word: cockney
word: cot-quean
word: cupcake
word: dudelet
word: fakaleiti
word: fairy
word: femboy
word: gentleman
word: ginch
word: girl's blouse
word: girlyman
word: janegirl
word: jessie
word: nancy
word: nancyboy
word: nancy pants
word: pansy
word: Percy
word: poof
word: poofter
word: posy sniffer
word: pretty boy
word: puss-gentleman
word: quiche-eater
word: sissy
word: softling
word: soy boy
word: swish
word: twink
word: zenana
glosses: An effeminate or oversophisticated man.
examples: text: Latrobe had extensive dealings with Jefferson, the most prominent gentleman-architect in the United States.
ref: 2004, Mary N. Woods, “The First Professional: Benjamin Henry Latrobe”, in Keith L. Eggener, editor, American Architectural History: A Contemporary Reader, electronic edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 119:
synonyms: dilettante
glosses: An amateur or dabbler in any field, particularly those of independent means.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
coordinate_terms: word: professional
word: player
glosses: An amateur player, particularly one whose wealth permits him to forego payment.
Derived terms: April gentleman
country gentleman
first gentleman
gent
gentleboy
gentleman about town
gentleman and scholar
gentleman-at-arms
gentleman-commoner
gentleman cow
gentleman farmer
gentlemanhood
gentleman-in-waiting
gentlemanish
gentlemanism
gentlemanize
Gentleman Jim
gentlemanliness
gentlemanly
gentleman of leisure
gentleman of the back door
gentleman's bet
gentleman's C
gentleman scientist
gentleman's gentleman
gentlemanship
gentleman usher
gentlemen's agreement
gentlemen's club
gentlemen's room
gentlethem
ladies and gentlemen
old gentleman
put the beggar on the gentleman
scholar and gentleman
second gentleman
temporary gentleman
transgentleman
ungentleman
walking gentleman
Related terms: gentlewoman
gentlelady