English
gens
Gens comes from Latin gēns, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis ‘birth’, and ultimately from *ǵenh₁- ‘to beget’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁tis‘birth’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gentisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgēns
- Englishearliest quotation 1848gens
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to beget’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁tis‘birth’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gentisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgēns
- Englishearliest quotation 1848gens
Earliest quotation: 1848, George Long, GENS: “[page 568, column 2] There were certain sacred rites…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to beget’
king, nature, general, native, german, pregnant, engine, generation, kindness, gender, genuine, nationalism, genetic, indigenous, naive, generate, genius, ken, generous, kin, oxygen, noel, generic, gene, hydrogen, genre, innate, genocide, natal, kinder, nee, nativity, nada, naïve, genus, janata, genital, ingenious, nascent, germ, 106 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis ‘birth’
kind, nation, genetics, genesis, 14 more
through Latin gēns
Today it means
noun A legally defined unit of Roman society, being a collection of people related through a common ancestor by birth, marriage or adoption, possibly over many generations, and sharing the same nomen gentilicium.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / gens