Gentleman
The term gentleman (from Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or gens, and man, cognate with the French word gentilhomme, the Spanish Caballero, the Italian gentil uomo or gentiluomo and the Portuguese gentil-homem), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of the lowest rank of the English gentry, standing below an esquire and above a yeoman.
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Famous quotes containing the word gentleman:
“Faith is a fine invention
When Gentleman can see
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.”
—Emily Dickinson (18301886)
“Believe me, there exists no such dilemma as that in which a gentleman is placed when he is forced to reply to a blackguard.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (18091845)
“Altarwise by owl-light in the half-way house
The gentleman lay graveward with his furies;
Abaddon in the hangnail cracked from Adam,
And, from his fork, a dog among the fairies,
The atlas-eater with a jaw for news,
Bit out the mandrake with to-morrows scream.”
—Dylan Thomas (19141953)