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:
“In proceeding to the dining-room, the gentleman gives one arm to the lady he escorts—it is unusual to offer both.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“If the aristocrat is only valid in fashionable circles, and not with truckmen, he will never be a leader in fashion; and if the man of the people cannot speak on equal terms with the gentleman, so that the gentleman shall perceive that he is already really of his own order, he is not to be feared.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“As a general rule, do not kick the shins of the opposite gentleman under the table, if personally unaquainted with him; your pleasantry is liable to be misunderstood—a circumstance at all times unpleasant.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)