gentleman
[ˈd͡ʒɛɾ̃.ɫ̩.mən] noun, proper noun
Forms gentlemen Gentlemans
- noun Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.
- noun (by extension; polite term of address) Any man. “Please escort this gentleman to the gentlemen's room.”
- noun (chiefly historical) 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.”
- noun (derogatory) An effeminate or oversophisticated man. “Well, la-di-da, aren't you just a proper gentleman?”
- noun (usually historical, sometimes derogatory) An amateur or dabbler in any field, particularly those of independent means.
- noun (cricket) An amateur player, particularly one whose wealth permits him to forego payment.
- proper noun A surname transferred from the nickname.
Synonyms
sahib cockney puss-gentleman sissy bading big girl's blouse cot-quean cupcake dudelet fakaleiti fairy femboy ginch girl's blouse girlyman janegirl jessie nancy nancyboy nancy pants valet valet de chambre gentleman's gentleman man
Etymology
From Middle English gentilman, morphologically gentle + man, partial calque of Old French gentilhome.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A man well born; one of good family; one above the condition of a yeoman.
- noun One of gentle or refined manners; a well-bred man.
Etymology [OE. gentilman nobleman; gentil noble + man man; cf. F. gentilhomme.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gentleman”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details