English
genteel
Genteel comes from French gentil ‘gentile’, from Latin gentīlis ‘of or belonging to the same people or nation’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, to beget, to give birth’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce, to beget, to give birth’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁tis‘birth, production’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gentisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgēns‘clan’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEgentīlis‘of or belonging to the same people or nation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gentil
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgentil‘gentile’
- Englishearliest quotation 1795genteel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce, to beget, to give birth’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁tis‘birth, production’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gentisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgēns‘clan’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEgentīlis‘of or belonging to the same people or nation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400gentil
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgentil‘gentile’
- Englishearliest quotation 1795genteel
Earliest quotation: 1795, Joseph Addison, An Essay on Card-playing: “Indeed I would advise every ſingle lady, if poſſible,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, to beget, to give birth’
king, general, nature, german, native, engine, generation, pregnant, gender, kindness, genuine, genetic, ken, genius, indigenous, generous, nationalism, gene, oxygen, naive, genre, kin, hydrogen, genocide, natal, noel, kinder, innate, genus, nativity, nada, naïve, genital, ingenious, janata, germ, nee, puny, nascent, cognate, 106 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis ‘birth, production’
kind, nation, genetics, genesis, 14 more
through Latin gēns ‘clan’
through Latin gentīlis ‘of or belonging to the same people or nation’
through Old French gentil
through French gentil ‘gentile’
Today it means
adj Affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / genteel