▪ I. gent, n.
(dʒɛnt)
[Short for gentleman.]
a. = gentleman; now only vulgar, exc. as applied derisively to men of the vulgar and pretentious class who are supposed to use the word, and as used in tradesmen's notices.
Early prose examples are doubtful, as they may represent only the graphic abbreviation which was formerly common; ‘Gents’ may be an editorial misreading for ‘Gent.’ = gentlemen. Early in the nineteenth century the word was colloquial and slightly jocular; about 1840 its use came to be regarded as a mark of low breeding.
| 1564 in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1869) 12 To make a supper to divers gentlemen of Gray's Inne, for the great amitie betweene them and the Middle Temple gents. 1605 Z. Jones tr. Loyer's Specters 32 margin, Another Gent of the quality lived of late in Deven..who could not endure the playing on a Bagpipe. 1635 [Glapthorne] Lady Mother i. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. II. 114 Hees not a gent that cannot parlee. I must invent some new and polite phrases. 1649 Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 56 Noise and tumult occasioned by three or four wild gents in drink. 1783 Gentl. Mag. LIII. ii. 577 The modern gent. is formed under the sage direction of a French dancer, or a Swiss renegado. 1785 Burns Ep. to J. Lapraik 21 Apr. xi, Do ye envy the city Gent, Behind a kist to lie an' sklent. 1799 Mrs. H. Washington Let. in Athenæum (1892) 17 Dec. 857/1 His lordship has invited sixteen gents here today. 1810 Bentham Packing (1821) 207 If the practice of the Courts..be to such a degree a secret to Great Law Officers, can it be wondered that they should be equally so to lay-gents, such as Sheriffs and Members of Parliament? 1815 C. Lucas in Monthly Mag. XXXIX. 296 How little support Mr. Kemble received from these gents, in his right pronunciation of the word aches, must be in the recollection of most of your readers. 1817 Byron Ep. fr. Murray to Polidori 59 My humble tenement admits All persons in the dress of gent., From Mr. Hammond to Dog Dent. 1827 Sporting Mag. XX. 51 The poor ladies on Farnham Common had little to thank the gents of the hunt for their gallantry. 1831 Beddoes Let. Jan. in Poems p. xciv, The reading populace ought to be much obliged to me for my forbearance; 'tis a pity that other young rhyming gents are not equally economical of their tediousness. 1838 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 141 The gents watched him till I came. 1842 Thackeray Fitz-Boodle's Prof. i, Gents..[an] affectionate diminutive..at present much in use among commercial persons. 1847 Illustr. Lond. News 16 Oct. 250/1 His whole bearing was rather that of the ‘gent’ than gentleman. 1878 Besant & Rice Celia's Arb. xxxix. (1887) 284 London audiences of shop-boys and flashy gents. 1885 F. Anstey Tinted Venus 100 I'm not responsible, indeed, gents. 1901 Daily Chron. 10 Sept. 9/1 Hair Dresser.—First-class gent's junior wanted. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §920 Hairdresser's assistant; gents' or ladies' hand. |
b. pl. = gentleman 4 e. colloq.
| [1933 R. Strachey Many Happy Returns i. 41 He let me build the Palace Pier too, and the gents' place on the front.] 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock i. ii. 28 He's just gone into the gents to have a wash. 1958 B. Hamilton Too Much of Water viii. 75 The Gents on the lower deck..consisted of three water-closets, a urinal, a..shower, and two small rooms containing large baths. 1965 Crescendo Oct. 7/1 It was confirmed by conversation overheard in the interval along the aisles or in the Gents. 1968 Listener 1 Aug. 141/1 The only place you could talk to Harrer was in the gents, and even there not for long. |
▪ II. † gent, a. Obs.
(dʒɛnt)
Also 4–5 gente, 4–5 jent(e.
[a. OF. gent:—popular L. *gentum for class. Lat. genitum, pa. pple. of gignĕre to beget.
From meaning simply ‘born’, as in class. Lat., the word came to mean ‘well-born’, ‘noble’, and by a further development, ‘noble in conduct’, ‘graceful in manners or appearance’, ‘courteous’, ‘beautiful’. Cf. gentle.]
1. Noble, high-born; having the qualities attaching to high birth. Of men, esp. a knight or warrior: Valiant and courteous. (Cf. gentle.) In later use: Graceful in manners, well-bred, polite, gentle.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 265 Bot Iueler gente if þou schal lose Þy Ioy for a gemme þat þe watz lef. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 4, I wol telle verrayment..Al of a knyght was fair and gent. c 1410 Sir Cleges 247 Sir Cleges, and his son gent, The right waye to Cardiffe went. c 1440 York Myst. xl. 19 Jesu so gente. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxix. 396 Maria. peter, andrew, Iohn, and Iamys the gent..And all my brethere dere. 1570 Levins Manip. 66/14 Gent, gentle, mitis. 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 31 For as into the wax the seals imprent Is lyke a seale, right so the Poët gent [Du Bartas: le poëte s{cced}auant], Doeth graue so viue in vs his passions strange. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 17 The prowest and most gent, That ever brandished bright steele on hye! 1600 Eng. Helicon (Grosart) 217, I met a Woodman queint and gent. a 1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary iii. i. (1651) 36 Pot. Who is't that cals? Mo. A Knight most Gent. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal iv. i. (Arb.) 103 Is not that now like a well-bred person, I gad? So modest, so gent. |
| absol. or quasi-n. 13.. K. Alis. 3960 In bothe halve, mony gent, Wenten hom to heore tent. |
2. Of women and children: Graceful, elegant, pretty. Before Spenser chiefly in poetical phrases, gent and small, fair and gent, etc.
| a 1225 St. Marher. 131 So gent þu were & hende. a 1250 Owl & Night. 204 Niȝtingale And oþer wiȝte, gente and smale. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 562 Þo vond he þere damaiseles gent and vair inoȝ. a 1300 Cursor M. 13138 His broþer doghter, gent and smal Com þaim be for al for to bale. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 1628 Tho spake Roulande..To Floripe, that was bothe gente and fre. c 1460 Emare 191 Messengeres forth he sent Aftyr the mayde fayre and gent. 1513 Douglas æneis v. x. heading, How that Ascanius and zoung childir gent, Assailzeit wthir, in manir of turnament. 1572 Lament. Lady Scotl. in Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 250 Ane lawyers wyfe, baith trym and gent. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 27 He lov'd, as was his lot, a Lady gent. 1600 Fairfax Tasso ii. xvii. 23 She that was noble wise, as faire and gent. 1736 W. Thompson Nativity x. 7 A joyous fellowship was seen Of ladies gent. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. lxvi, Not nigh the gay saloon of ladies gent. |
| absol. c 1440 Bone Flor. 2135 They..thankyd them for that gente. 1737 Ozell Rabelais i. liv, The Gent, the Brisk, the Fair. |
| quasi-adv. 1513 Douglas æneis v. x. 22 The childer, arrayit fair and gent, Enterit in the camp all sammyn, schyning brycht. |
3. Of the body or limbs: Elegant, shapely, slender. Of things: Tasteful in design, elegant, neat.
| c 1300 Beket 1193 His lymes also he bihuld: hou gent hi were and freo. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1495 His iueles so gent wyth iaueles wer fouled. c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 558 The goos, with hir facounde gent..Shal telle our tale. c 1386 ― Miller's T. 48 As eny wesil hir body gent and smal. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 17, I beheld your Fethers faire and gent. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour C iij b, I was woned to haue a faire bodye and gente. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlviii. 44 Scho, this quene..enterit in a lusty gairding gent. a 1550 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 305 That bird..That wes so fair, with fedderis gent. 1590 Greene Mourning garment (1616) 12 Her middle was both small and gent. a 1605 Montgomerie Misc. P. xxxv. 62 Hir middel gent and small. 1677 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 65 Such a Monument, The Sun through all the world sees none more gent. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 350/1 An High Heel shooe Pinked..is a Shooe of the Gentest fashion. |