Gentleman

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:

    “What, this gentleman will out-talk us all.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “I look upon England today as an old gentleman who is travelling with a great deal of baggage, trumpery which has accumulated from long housekeeping, which he has not the courage to burn.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “I must have the gentleman to haul and draw with the mariner, and the mariner with the gentleman.... I would know him, that would refuse to set his hand to a rope, but I know there is not any such here.”
    —Francis, Sir Drake (1540–1596)