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)
- kind, courteous
- gentile (non-Jewish)
- Antonym: jueu
Derived terms
- gentilesa
- gentilment
Noun
gentil m or f (plural gentils)
- 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, 2023
- “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.
French
Etymology
From Old French gentil, borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʒɑ̃.ti/
audio (file)
Adjective
gentil (feminine gentille, masculine plural gentils, feminine plural gentilles)
- helpful, kind
- pleasant, amiable, nice
- Elle reçut une petite tape gentille sur les fesses.
- She received an amiable little slap on the buttocks.
- attractive, pretty; also derogative, in the sense of superficial, esp. in the arts
- (idiomatic) all very well
- C'est bien gentil tout ça, mais…
- That's all very well, but...
- well behaved, good (especially but not only about children, in the sense of good boy/girl)
- 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)
- pagan, heretic
- gentile
Related terms
- genre
- gens
- gentilhomme
- gentillesse
- gentiment
Further reading
- “gentil”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
German
Etymology
Borrowed from French gentil.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ʒɛnˈtiːl], [ʒãnˈtiːl]
- Hyphenation: gen‧til
Audio (file) Audio (French-style) (file)
Adjective
gentil (strong nominative masculine singular gentiler, comparative gentiler, superlative am gentilsten)
- 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
- “gentil” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Italian
Adjective
gentil (apocopated)
- Apocopic form of gentile
Old French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /d͡ʒɛ̃nˈtil/
Adjective
gentil m (oblique and nominative feminine singular gentil or gentile)
- noble; courteous; courtly
Descendants
- French: gentil
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): /ʒẽˈt͡ʃiw/ [ʒẽˈt͡ʃiʊ̯]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ʒẽˈtil/ [ʒẽˈtiɫ]
- Homophone: Gentil
- Rhymes: (Portugal) -il, (Brazil) -iw
- Hyphenation: gen‧til
Adjective
gentil m or f (plural gentis)
- gentle; amiable; kind
- Synonyms: agradável, amigável, amistoso, cortês
- Antonyms: desagradável, descortês
- elegant
- Synonyms: belo, elegante, formoso, garboso
- Antonyms: desagradável, deselegante, feio
- gentle; polite; respectful
Synonyms
- (polite): See Thesaurus:cortês
Antonyms
- (polite): See Thesaurus:cortês
Related terms
- gentileza
- gentílico
- gente
Romanian
Etymology
From French gentile.
Adjective
gentil m or n (feminine singular gentilă, masculine plural gentili, feminine and neuter plural gentile)
- gentile
Declension
Declension of gentil
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative/ accusative | indefinite | gentil | gentilă | gentili | gentile | ||
| definite | gentilul | gentila | gentilii | gentilele | |||
| genitive/ dative | indefinite | gentil | gentile | gentili | gentile | ||
| definite | gentilului | gentilei | gentililor | gentilelor | |||
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /xenˈtil/ [xẽn̪ˈt̪il]
- Rhymes: -il
- Syllabification: gen‧til
Adjective
gentil (plural gentiles)
- kind, nice
- gentile (non-Jewish)
- Antonym: judío
Derived terms
- gentileza
- gentilísimo
- gentilmente
Related terms
- gentil
Noun
gentil m or f (plural gentiles)
- gentile (non-Jew)
- Antonym: judío
Related terms
- gente
Further reading
- “gentil”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɧaŋˈtiːl/
Adjective
gentil
- (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 |
| Masculine plural3 | gentile | 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. 3) Dated or archaic | |||
Anagrams
- enligt