gentleman

B1 Topic:People & Society

Also spelled genlman, genlman’s, and genlmen

US /ˈd͡ʒɛn.təl.mən/ See IPA manual

Freq #1726

Meanings

1

noun
A polite, well-mannered man.

He held the door open for everyone, a true gentleman.
2

noun
A polite way to refer to any man.

Could you show this gentleman to his seat?
3

noun
In the past, a man of good social position who did not need to work for a living.

In the novel, the young gentleman lived off the income from his family estate.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a polite way to refer to... sahib

Word family

Forms gentlemanlikegentlemen

Derived forms gentgentleboygentleman-at-armsgentleman-commonergentleman-in-waitinggentlemanhoodgentlemanishgentlemanismgentlemanizegentlemanliness gentlemanlygentlemanship

Related forms gentleladygentlewoman

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

old gentleman
an older man referred to politely

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English gentilman, morphologically gentle + man, partial calque of Old French gentilhome.

gentilman Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# gentleman

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈd͡ʒɛn.təl.mən/
**Frequency rank:** 1726

## Meanings
1. A polite, well-mannered man.
2. A polite way to refer to any man.
3. In the past, a man of good social position who did not need to work for a living.

## Examples
- He held the door open for everyone, a true gentleman.
- Could you show this gentleman to his seat?
- In the novel, the young gentleman lived off the income from his family estate.

## Derived Forms
- gent
- gentleboy
- gentleman-at-arms
- gentleman-commoner
- gentleman-in-waiting
- gentlemanhood
- gentlemanish
- gentlemanism
- gentlemanize
- gentlemanliness
- gentlemanly
- gentlemanship

## Related Forms
- gentlelady
- gentlewoman

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gentilman

## Etymology
From Middle English gentilman, morphologically gentle + man, partial calque of Old French gentilhome.

## AI Etymology
Gentleman comes from Middle English gentilman, morphologically gentle + man, partial calque of Old French gentilhome. In current use, the main senses are “A polite, well-mannered man” and “A polite way to refer to any man”.

## Topics
- People & Society

markdown