Gens
(||Gens) n.; pl. Gentes [L. See Gentle, a.] (Rom. Hist.)
1. A clan or family connection, embracing several families of the same stock, who had a common name
and certain common religious rites; a subdivision of the Roman curia or tribe.
2. (Ethnol.) A minor subdivision of a tribe, among American aborigines. It includes those who have a
common descent, and bear the same totem.
Gent
(Gent) a. [OF. gent, fr. L. genitus born, or (less prob.) fr. gentilis. See Genteel.]
1. Gentle; noble; of gentle birth. [Obs.]
All of a knight [who] was fair and gent.
Chaucer. 2. Neat; pretty; fine; elegant. [Obs.] Spenser.
Her body gent and small.
Chaucer. Genteel
(Gen*teel") a. [F. gentil noble, pretty, graceful. See Gentle.]
1. Possessing or exhibiting the qualities popularly regarded as belonging to high birth and breeding; free
from vulgarity, or lowness of taste or behavior; adapted to a refined or cultivated taste; polite; well-bred; as,
genteel company, manners, address.
2. Graceful in mien or form; elegant in appearance, dress, or manner; as, the lady has a genteel person.
Law.
3. Suited to the position of lady or a gentleman; as, to live in a genteel allowance.
Syn. — Polite; well-bred; refined; polished.
Genteelish
(Gen*teel"ish), a. Somewhat genteel.
Genteelly
(Gen*teel"ly), adv. In a genteel manner.
Genteelness
(Gen*teel"ness), n. The quality of being genteel.
Genterie
(Gen"ter*ie Gen"trie) n. [OE. See Gentry.] Nobility of birth or of character; gentility. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Gentian
(Gen"tian) (jen"shan or - shi*an), n. [OE. genciane, F. gentiane, L. gentiana, fr. Gentius,
an Illyrian king, said to have discovered its properties.] (Bot.) Any one of a genus (Gentiana) of herbaceous
plants with opposite leaves and a tubular four- or five-lobed corolla, usually blue, but sometimes white,
yellow, or red. See Illust. of Capsule.
Many species are found on the highest mountains of Europe, Asia, and America, and some are prized
for their beauty, as the Alpine and the American fringed gentians (G. crinita and G. detonsa). Several
are used as tonics, especially the bitter roots of Gentiana lutea, the officinal gentian of the pharmacopœias.
Horse gentian, fever root. — Yellow gentian (Bot.), the officinal gentian See Bitterwort.
