gentleman

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: gen=tle=man

CIDE DICTIONARY

gentleman, n. [OE. gentilman nobleman; gentil noble + man man; cf. F. gentilhomme.].

•  A man well born; one of good family; one above the condition of a yeoman.  [1913 Webster]
•  One of gentle or refined manners; a well-bred man.  [1913 Webster]
•  One who bears arms, but has no title.  [1913 Webster]
•  The servant of a man of rank.  [1913 Webster]

  "The count's gentleman, one Cesario."  [1913 Webster]
•  A man, irrespective of condition; -- used esp. in the plural (= citizens; people), in addressing men in popular assemblies, etc.  [1913 Webster]

  " In Great Britain, the term gentleman is applied in a limited sense to those having coats of arms, but who are without a title, and, in this sense, gentlemen hold a middle rank between the nobility and yeomanry. In a more extended sense, it includes every man above the rank of yeoman, comprehending the nobility. In the United States, the term is applied to men of education and good breeding of every occupation."  [1913 Webster]

Gentleman commoner, one of the highest class of commoners at the University of Oxford. -- Gentleman usher, one who ushers visitors into the presence of a sovereign, etc. -- Gentleman usher of the black rod, an usher belonging to the Order of the Garter, whose chief duty is to serve as official messenger of the House of Lords. -- Gentlemen-at-arms, a band of forty gentlemen who attend the sovereign on state occasions; formerly called gentlemen pensioners. [Eng.]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

gentleman, n. (pl. -men)
1 a man (in polite or formal use).
2 a chivalrous or well-bred man.
3 a man of good social position or of wealth and leisure (country gentleman).
4 a man of gentle birth attached to a royal household (gentleman in waiting).
5 (in pl. as a form of address) a male audience or the male part of an audience.

Idiom

gentleman-at-arms one of a sovereign's bodyguard. gentleman farmer a country gentleman who farms. gentleman's (or -men's) agreement one which is binding in honour but not legally enforceable.

Etymology

GENTLE + MAN after OF gentilz hom

THESAURUS

gentleman

Brahman, Brahmin, acceptable person, archduke, aristocrat, armiger, baron, baronet, bloke, blue blood, boy, buck, butler, capital fellow, chap, chauffeur, chevalier, coachman, count, daimio, diamond, driver, duke, earl, equerry, esquire, faithful, fellow, galantuomo, gardener, gee, gem, gent, gentilhomme, gillie, good fellow, good lot, good man, good person, good sort, good woman, grand duke, grandee, guy, he, hidalgo, him, his, hombre, homme, honest man, honest woman, houseboy, houseman, jewel, lace-curtain, lady, laird, landgrave, lord, lord-in-waiting, lordling, magnate, magnifico, male, male being, male person, man, man of honor, manservant, margrave, marquis, masculine, mensch, nob, noble, nobleman, optimate, palsgrave, patrician, pearl, peer, perfect gentleman, perfect lady, persona grata, prince, real lady, real man, right sort, rough diamond, seigneur, seignior, silk-stocking, squire, straight shooter, swell, thoroughbred, true blue, truepenny, trusty, upper-cruster, valet, valet de chambre, viscount, waldgrave, woman of honor, worthy

ROGET THESAURUS

gentleman

Nobility

N nobility, rank, condition, distinction, optimacy, blood, pur sang, birth, high descent, order, quality, gentility, blue blood of Castile, ancien regime, high life, haute monde, upper classes, upper ten thousand, the four hundred, elite, aristocracy, great folks, fashionable world, peer, peerage, house of lords, house of peers, lords, lords temporal and spiritual, noblesse, noble, nobleman, lord, lordling, grandee, magnifico, hidalgo, daimio, daimyo, samurai, shizoku, don, donship, aristocrat, swell, three- tailed bashaw, gentleman, squire, squireen, patrician, laureate, gentry, gentlefolk, squirarchy, better sort magnates, primates, optimates, pantisocracy, king, atheling, prince, duke, marquis, marquisate, earl, viscount, baron, thane, banneret, baronet, baronetcy, knight, knighthood, count, armiger, laird, signior, seignior, esquire, boyar, margrave, vavasour, emir, ameer, scherif, sharif, effendi, wali, sahib, chevalier, maharaja, nawab, palsgrave, pasha, rajah, waldgrave, princess, begum, duchess, marchioness, countess, lady, dame, memsahib, Do$a, maharani, rani, personage of distinction, man of distinction, personage of rank, man of rank, personage of mark, man of mark, notables, notabilities, celebrity, bigwig, magnate, great man, star, superstar, big bug, big gun, great gun, gilded rooster, magni nominis umbra, every inch a king, noble, exalted, of rank, princely, titled, patrician, aristocratic, high-, well-born, of gentle blood, genteel, comme il faut, gentlemanlike, courtly, highly respectable, in high quarters, Adel sitzt im Gemuthe nicht im Gebluete, adelig und edel sind zweierlei, noblesse oblige.

Probity

N probity, integrity, rectitude, uprightness, honesty, faith, honor, bonne foi, good faith, bona fides, purity, clean hands, fairness, fair play, justice, equity, impartiality, principle, even-handedness, grace, constancy, faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty, incorruption, incorruptibility, trustworthiness, truth, candor, singleness of heart, veracity, tender conscience, punctilio, delicacy, nicety, scrupulosity, scrupulousness, scruple, point, point of honor, punctuality, dignity, (repute), respectability, respectableness, gentilhomme, gentleman, man of honor, man of his word, fidus Achates, preux chevalier, galantuomo, truepenny, trump, brick, true Briton, white man, court of honor, a fair field and no favor, argumentum ad verecundiam, upright, honest, honest as daylight, veracious, virtuous, honorable, fair, right, just, equitable, impartial, evenhanded, square, fair and aboveboard, open and aboveboard, white, constant, constant as the northern star, faithful, loyal, staunch, true, true blue, true to one's colors, true to the core, true as the needle to the pole, marble-constant, true- hearted, trusty, trustworthy, as good as one's word, to be depended on, incorruptible, straightforward, frank, candid, open-hearted, conscientious, tender-conscienced, right-minded, high-principled, high-minded, scrupulous, religious, strict, nice, punctilious, correct, punctual, respectable, reputable, gentlemanlike, inviolable, inviolate, unviolated, unbroken, unbetrayed, unbought, unbribed, innocent, pure, stainless, unstained, untarnished, unsullied, untainted, unperjured, uncorrupt, uncorrupted, undefiled, undepraved, undebauched, integer vitae scelerisque purus, justus et tenax propositi, chivalrous, jealous of honor, sans peur et sans reproche, high-spirited, supramundane, unworldly, other-worldly, overscrupulous, honorable, bona fide, on the square, in good faith, honor bright, foro conscientiae, with clean hands, a face untaught to feign, bene qui latuit bene vixit, mens sibi conscia recti, probitas laudatur et alget, fidelis ad urnam, his heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth, loyaute m'oblige, loyaute n'a honte, what stronger breastplate than a heart untainted?.

Man

N man, male, he, him, manhood, gentleman, sir, master, sahib, yeoman, wight, swain, fellow, blade, beau, elf, chap, gaffer, good man, husband, Mr, mister, boy, cock, drake, gander, dog, boar, stag, hart, buck, horse, entire horse, stallion, gibcat, tomcat, he goat, Billy goat, ram, tup, bull, bullock, capon, ox, gelding, steer, stot, androgen, homosexual, gay, queen, male, he-, masculine, manly, virile, unwomanly, unfeminine, Pron, he, him, his, hominem pagina nostra sapit, homo homini aut deus aut lupus, homo vitae commodatus non donatus est.