gentle
Part of speech: adj
verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: fishing
hobbies
lifestyle
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.
Inflected forms:
form: gentler
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: more gentle
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: gentlest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: most gentle
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: gentles
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: gentling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: gentled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: gentled
pos: verb
tags: past
form: gentles
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Tender and amiable; of a considerate or kindly disposition.
pos: adj
examples: Stuart is a gentle man; he would never hurt you.
gloss: Soft and mild rather than hard or severe.
pos: adj
examples: I felt something touch my shoulder; it was gentle and a little slimy.
Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.
Raj took a deep breath, and reached out to give Armitage the gentlest little stroke. “It’s nippy out. Let’s take him inside.”
As for daytime sun protection, Dr. Bowe said mineral sunscreens made with zinc oxide may be gentler on sensitized skin than chemical formulas.
gloss: Docile and easily managed.
pos: adj
examples: We had a gentle swim in the lake.
a gentle horse
gloss: Gradual rather than steep or sudden.
pos: adj
examples: The walks in this area have a gentle incline.
gloss: Polite and respectful rather than rude.
pos: adj
examples: He gave me a gentle reminder that we had to hurry up.
gloss: Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
examples: "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.
the studies wherein our noble and gentle youth ought to bestow their time
gloss: To become gentle.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: “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.
gloss: To ennoble.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: […] 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 […]
gloss: To break; to tame; to domesticate.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
gloss: To soothe; to calm; to make gentle.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
gloss: A person of high birth.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
examples: Gentles, methinks you frown.
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.
gloss: A maggot used as bait by anglers.
pos: noun
examples: Pooh! the whole thing is as alive and wrigging as an angler's box of gentles
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.
gloss: A trained falcon, or falcon-gentil.
pos: noun
Synonyms: friendly
kind
polite
respectful
Antonyms: rude
Derived words: 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: