gentleman

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.

   • 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.
   • 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.”
2. 2

   Any man.

   • Please escort this gentleman to the gentlemen's room.
3. 3

   A man of gentle but not noble birth, particularly a man of means (originally ownership of…

   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.

   • 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.
   • 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, […]
   • But when Adam delued, and Eue ſpan, VVho was then a Gentleman?
4. ›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      An effeminate or oversophisticated man.

      • Well, la-di-da, aren't you just a proper gentleman?
   2. 5

      An amateur or dabbler in any field, particularly those of independent means.

      • Latrobe had extensive dealings with Jefferson, the most prominent gentleman-architect in the United States.
   3. 6

      An amateur player, particularly one whose wealth permits him to forego payment.

   4. 7

      A surname transferred from the nickname.

The neighborhood

• neighborgentlewoman
• neighborgentlelady