▪ I. jennet1
(ˈdʒɛnɪt)
Forms: α. 5–6 genett, 6 gynnet, 6–7 ginnet, 6–8 gennet(te, 6–9 genet, 7 ganet, 7–9 ginet, 8 gennett. β. 5 iennet(te, 6 ienete, -ate, iannet, ionet, 6–7 ienet(t, 7– jennet.
[a. F. genet (in 15th c. also ginet) in same sense, a. Sp. jinete, † ginete, ‘a light horseman that rideth a la gineta’ (F. à la genette), i.e. ‘with the legs trussed vp in short stirrups, with a target and a ginnet launce’ (Minsheu, 1599). In Fr. and Eng. (also in It. gianetto masc., gianetta fem.) transferred from the horseman to his horse, a sense unknown to Sp. dictionaries until quite recently. The Sp. use appears in our sense 2, which is however later in Eng. Dozy derives the Sp. word from Arab. Zenāta ‘a great Berber nation noted for the valour of its cavalry’; other conjectures have been made.]
1. A small Spanish horse.
| α 1463 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 178 Item ffor a genett that my mastyr lent hym into the northe contry. 1557–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 834/1 The countie Galeas came into the place on a genet trapped in blew satten. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1645) iii. 109 The proudest Don..prancing upon his ginet in the streets. 1670 Dryden 1st Pt. Conq. Granada i. i, (Each Brandishing his Bull-spear in his Hand) Did their proud Gennets gracefully command. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) I. i. i. 250 Next to the Barb, travellers generally rank the Spanish genette. 1870 Disraeli Lothair iv. 10 The dames and damsels vaulted on their barbs and genets. |
| β ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 749 Iennettes of Spayne, that ben so wyght, Trapped to the ground with velvet bright. 1550 Lyndesay Sqr. Meldrum 1711 Ane man in armour bricht, Upon ane ionet or ane cursour wicht. 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 310 The Sacrament must be caried before him, whither so euer he goe, vpon a faire white Iannet. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 405 In seeking to trie your louer like a Ienet, you tyre him like a Iade. a 1674 Milton Hist. Mosc. i. Wks. (1851) 479 The Emperor rides into the Field..with all his Nobility, on Jennets and Turky Horses. 1764 Churchill Times Wks. 1776 III. 78 Watch not their steps—They're safe without thy care, Unless, like Jennets, they conceive by air. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. I. i. v. 252 Isabella, royally attired, rode on a Spanish jennet. |
† 2. A (Spanish) light horseman. Obs. exc. Hist.
| 1676 North's Plutarch Add. Lives 76 He [Cortez] was made Lieutenant of a company of Gennets. [1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. II. ii. ii. 406 The Spanish ginetes succeeded in throwing the French gendarmerie into some disorder.] |
3. attrib., as jennet-bit, jennet-fashion, jennet-lance.
| 1599 Minsheu Sp. Dict., Gineta lan{cced}a, a ginnet launce. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 364 They fight on horse⁓backe after the Gynnet fashion, they use lances with two heads, and darts and arrowes. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 197 A thousande foote, and five hundreth horse, after the Genette manner. 1611 Cotgr., Genet, a kind of bit with a round port..a Genet-bit. |
▪ II. † jennet2 Obs.
a. = ginnet, a carpenter's adz. b. App. some part of the fixture of a bell.
| 1562 in Rogers Agric. & Prices III. 576/2, 11 axes..8 jennets..12 augers. 1615–16 in Swayne Sarum Church-w. Acc. (1896) 166, xij Jennetes for the Gudgins of the third bell, 6d. |
▪ III. jennet
obs. variant of genet1.