gentil

See also: Gentil

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin gentīlis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ʒənˈtil/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒenˈtil/

Adjective

gentil (masculine and feminine plural gentils)

1. kind, courteous
2. gentile (non-Jewish)

   Antonym: jueu

Derived terms

• gentilesa
• gentilment

Noun

gentil m or f (plural gentils)

1. gentile (non-Jew)

   Antonym: jueu

Further reading

• “gentil” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “gentil” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “gentil” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “gentil” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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French

Etymology

From Old French gentil, borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɑ̃.ti/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

gentil (feminine singular gentille, masculine plural gentils, feminine plural gentilles)

1. helpful, kind
2. pleasant, amiable, nice
3. attractive, pretty; also derogative, in the sense of superficial, esp. in the arts
4. (idiomatic) all very well (c'est bien gentil tout ça, mais "that's all very well, but")
5. well behaved, good (especially but not only about children, in the sense of good boy/girl)
6. fairly large, nice, tidy

Usage notes

• The word is sometimes used in derogative senses similar to the way its English equivalents are (e.g. about people considered to be lacking personality), but its positive use is much more common. In classical French it was used as a genuine compliment for social graces, which gave rise to gentilhomme (“gentleman”).

Synonyms

• aimable

Noun

gentil m (plural gentils)

1. pagan, heretic
2. gentile

Related terms

• genre
• gens
• gentilhomme
• gentillesse
• gentiment

Further reading

• “gentil” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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German

Etymology

From French gentil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʒɛnˈtiːl], [ʒãnˈtiːl]
• Hyphenation: gen‧til

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (French-style)

  (file)

Adjective

gentil (comparative gentiler, superlative am gentilsten)

1. nice, amiable

Declension

Positive forms of gentil

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist gentil	sie ist gentil	es ist gentil	sie sind gentil
strong declension (without article)	nominative	gentiler	gentile	gentiles	gentile
	genitive	gentilen	gentiler	gentilen	gentiler
	dative	gentilem	gentiler	gentilem	gentilen
	accusative	gentilen	gentile	gentiles	gentile
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der gentile	die gentile	das gentile	die gentilen
	genitive	des gentilen	der gentilen	des gentilen	der gentilen
	dative	dem gentilen	der gentilen	dem gentilen	den gentilen
	accusative	den gentilen	die gentile	das gentile	die gentilen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein gentiler	eine gentile	ein gentiles	(keine) gentilen
	genitive	eines gentilen	einer gentilen	eines gentilen	(keiner) gentilen
	dative	einem gentilen	einer gentilen	einem gentilen	(keinen) gentilen
	accusative	einen gentilen	eine gentile	ein gentiles	(keine) gentilen

Comparative forms of gentil

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist gentiler	sie ist gentiler	es ist gentiler	sie sind gentiler
strong declension (without article)	nominative	gentilerer	gentilere	gentileres	gentilere
	genitive	gentileren	gentilerer	gentileren	gentilerer
	dative	gentilerem	gentilerer	gentilerem	gentileren
	accusative	gentileren	gentilere	gentileres	gentilere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der gentilere	die gentilere	das gentilere	die gentileren
	genitive	des gentileren	der gentileren	des gentileren	der gentileren
	dative	dem gentileren	der gentileren	dem gentileren	den gentileren
	accusative	den gentileren	die gentilere	das gentilere	die gentileren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein gentilerer	eine gentilere	ein gentileres	(keine) gentileren
	genitive	eines gentileren	einer gentileren	eines gentileren	(keiner) gentileren
	dative	einem gentileren	einer gentileren	einem gentileren	(keinen) gentileren
	accusative	einen gentileren	eine gentilere	ein gentileres	(keine) gentileren

Superlative forms of gentil

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist am gentilsten	sie ist am gentilsten	es ist am gentilsten	sie sind am gentilsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	gentilster	gentilste	gentilstes	gentilste
	genitive	gentilsten	gentilster	gentilsten	gentilster
	dative	gentilstem	gentilster	gentilstem	gentilsten
	accusative	gentilsten	gentilste	gentilstes	gentilste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der gentilste	die gentilste	das gentilste	die gentilsten
	genitive	des gentilsten	der gentilsten	des gentilsten	der gentilsten
	dative	dem gentilsten	der gentilsten	dem gentilsten	den gentilsten
	accusative	den gentilsten	die gentilste	das gentilste	die gentilsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein gentilster	eine gentilste	ein gentilstes	(keine) gentilsten
	genitive	eines gentilsten	einer gentilsten	eines gentilsten	(keiner) gentilsten
	dative	einem gentilsten	einer gentilsten	einem gentilsten	(keinen) gentilsten
	accusative	einen gentilsten	eine gentilste	ein gentilstes	(keine) gentilsten

Further reading

• gentil in Duden online

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Italian

Adjective

gentil m

1. Apocopic form of gentile

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Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Adjective

gentil m (oblique and nominative feminine singular gentil or gentile)

1. noble; courteous; courtly

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Portuguese gentil, borrowed from Latin gentīlis (“belonging to the same family”), from gēns (“clan; tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁-.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʒẽ.ˈt͡ʃiw/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʒẽ.ˈtɨɫ/
  • Homophone: gentio
• Homophone: Gentil
• Hyphenation: gen‧til

Adjective

gentil m or f (plural gentis, comparable)

1. gentle; amiable; kind
2. elegant
3. gentle; polite; respectful

Synonyms

• (amiable): agradável, amigável, amistoso, cortês
• (elegant): belo, elegante, formoso, garboso
• (polite): See Thesaurus:cortês

Antonyms

• (amiable): desagradável, descortês
• (elegant): desagradável, deselegante, feio
• (polite): See Thesaurus:cortês

Related terms

• gentileza
• gentílico
• gente

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xenˈtil/, [xẽn̪ˈt̪il]

Adjective

gentil (plural gentiles)

1. kind, nice
2. gentile (non-Jewish)

   Antonym: judío

Derived terms

• gentileza
• gentilísimo

Noun

gentil m or f (plural gentiles)

1. gentile (non-Jew)

   Antonym: judío

Related terms

• gente

Further reading

• “gentil” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• /ɧaŋˈtiːl/

Adjective

gentil

1. (somewhat archaic) elegant and generous; posh, stylish; generous

   Det var en utomordentligt gentil middagsbjudning.

   "That was a most elegant dinner party."

Inflection

Inflection of gentil
Indefinite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative2
Common singular	gentil	gentilare	gentilast
Neuter singular	gentilt	gentilare	gentilast
Plural	gentila	gentilare	gentilast
Definite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Masculine singular1	gentile	gentilare	gentilaste
All	gentila	gentilare	gentilaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.