Wiktionary

gentil

See also: Gentil

Catalan

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Etymology

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From Latin gentīlis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gentil m or f (masculine and feminine plural gentils)

  1. kind, courteous
  2. gentile (non-Jewish)
    Antonym: jueu

Derived terms

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Noun

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gentil m or f by sense (plural gentils)

  1. gentile (non-Jew)
    Antonym: jueu

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French gentil, borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ʒɑ̃.ti/
  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

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gentil (feminine gentille, masculine plural gentils, feminine plural gentilles)

  1. helpful, kind
  2. pleasant, amiable, nice
    Elle reçut une petite tape gentille sur les fesses.
    She received an amiable little slap on the buttocks.
  3. attractive, pretty; also derogative, in the sense of superficial, esp. in the arts
  4. (idiomatic) all very well
    C’est bien gentil tout ça, mais…
    That's all very well, but...
  5. well behaved, good (especially but not only about children, in the sense of good boy/girl)
  6. fairly large, nice, tidy

Usage notes

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  • The word is sometimes used in derogative senses similar to the way its English equivalents are (e.g. about people considered to be lacking personality), but its positive use is much more common. In classical French it was used as a genuine compliment for social graces, which gave rise to gentilhomme (“gentleman”).

Synonyms

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Noun

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gentil m (plural gentils)

  1. pagan, heretic
  2. gentile
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Further reading

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German

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French gentil.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ʒɛnˈtiːl], [ʒãnˈtiːl]
  • Hyphenation: gen‧til
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (French-style):(file)

Adjective

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gentil (strong nominative masculine singular gentiler, comparative gentiler, superlative am gentilsten)

  1. nice, amiable

Declension

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Positive forms of gentil
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist gentil sie ist gentil es ist gentil sie sind gentil
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative gentiler gentile gentiles gentile
genitive gentilen gentiler gentilen gentiler
dative gentilem gentiler gentilem gentilen
accusative gentilen gentile gentiles gentile
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der gentile die gentile das gentile die gentilen
genitive des gentilen der gentilen des gentilen der gentilen
dative dem gentilen der gentilen dem gentilen den gentilen
accusative den gentilen die gentile das gentile die gentilen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein gentiler eine gentile ein gentiles (keine) gentilen
genitive eines gentilen einer gentilen eines gentilen (keiner) gentilen
dative einem gentilen einer gentilen einem gentilen (keinen) gentilen
accusative einen gentilen eine gentile ein gentiles (keine) gentilen
Comparative forms of gentil
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist gentiler sie ist gentiler es ist gentiler sie sind gentiler
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative gentilerer gentilere gentileres gentilere
genitive gentileren gentilerer gentileren gentilerer
dative gentilerem gentilerer gentilerem gentileren
accusative gentileren gentilere gentileres gentilere
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der gentilere die gentilere das gentilere die gentileren
genitive des gentileren der gentileren des gentileren der gentileren
dative dem gentileren der gentileren dem gentileren den gentileren
accusative den gentileren die gentilere das gentilere die gentileren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein gentilerer eine gentilere ein gentileres (keine) gentileren
genitive eines gentileren einer gentileren eines gentileren (keiner) gentileren
dative einem gentileren einer gentileren einem gentileren (keinen) gentileren
accusative einen gentileren eine gentilere ein gentileres (keine) gentileren
Superlative forms of gentil
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist am gentilsten sie ist am gentilsten es ist am gentilsten sie sind am gentilsten
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative gentilster gentilste gentilstes gentilste
genitive gentilsten gentilster gentilsten gentilster
dative gentilstem gentilster gentilstem gentilsten
accusative gentilsten gentilste gentilstes gentilste
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der gentilste die gentilste das gentilste die gentilsten
genitive des gentilsten der gentilsten des gentilsten der gentilsten
dative dem gentilsten der gentilsten dem gentilsten den gentilsten
accusative den gentilsten die gentilste das gentilste die gentilsten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein gentilster eine gentilste ein gentilstes (keine) gentilsten
genitive eines gentilsten einer gentilsten eines gentilsten (keiner) gentilsten
dative einem gentilsten einer gentilsten einem gentilsten (keinen) gentilsten
accusative einen gentilsten eine gentilste ein gentilstes (keine) gentilsten

Further reading

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  • “gentil” in Duden online
  • “gentil” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Italian

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Adjective

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gentil (apocopated)

  1. Apocopic form of gentile

Old French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gentil m (oblique and nominative feminine singular gentil or gentile)

  1. noble; courteous; courtly

Descendants

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  • French: gentil

Portuguese

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Etymology

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From Old Galician-Portuguese gentil, borrowed from Latin gentīlis (“belonging to the same family”), from gēns (“clan; tribe”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gentil m or f (plural gentis)

  1. gentle; amiable; kind
    Synonyms: agradável, amigável, amistoso, cortês
    Antonyms: desagradável, descortês
  2. elegant
    Synonyms: belo, elegante, formoso, garboso
    Antonyms: desagradável, deselegante, feio
  3. gentle; polite; respectful

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French gentile.

Adjective

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gentil m or n (feminine singular gentilă, masculine plural gentili, feminine and neuter plural gentile)

  1. gentile

Declension

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Declension of gentil
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite gentil gentilă gentili gentile
definite gentilul gentila gentilii gentilele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite gentil gentile gentili gentile
definite gentilului gentilei gentililor gentilelor

Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /xenˈtil/ [xẽn̪ˈt̪il]
  • Rhymes: -il
  • Syllabification: gen‧til

Adjective

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gentil m or f (masculine and feminine plural gentiles)

  1. kind, nice
    Synonym: amable
  2. gentile (non-Jewish)
    Antonym: judío

Derived terms

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Noun

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gentil m or f by sense (plural gentiles)

  1. gentile (non-Jew)
    Synonym: (sometimes offensive) goy
    Antonym: judío
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Further reading

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Swedish

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gentil

  1. (somewhat archaic) elegant and generous
  2. (somewhat archaic) elegant, fancy, posh

Declension

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Inflection of gentil
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular gentil gentilare gentilast
Neuter singular gentilt gentilare gentilast
Plural gentila gentilare gentilast
Masculine plural3 gentile gentilare gentilast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 gentile gentilare gentilaste
All gentila gentilare gentilaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic

Derived terms

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References

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Anagrams

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