gentleman

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   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.

2. 2
   noun

   Any man.

   Please escort this gentleman to the gentlemen's room.

3. 3
   noun

   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.

4. 4
   noun

   An effeminate or oversophisticated man.

   Well, la-di-da, aren't you just a proper gentleman?

5. 5
   noun

   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.

6. 6
   noun

   a man of refinement

7. 7
   noun

   a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer

8. 8
   noun

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

Etymology

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