Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GEN'I-TURE, n.

Generation; procreation; birth. Barton.

GE'NI-US, n. [L. from the root of gigno, Gr. γενναω, to beget.]

1. Among the ancients, a good or evil spirit or demon supposed to preside over a man's destiny in life, that is, to direct his birth and actions and be his guard and guide; a tutelary deity; the ruling and protecting power of men, places or things. This seems to be merely a personification or deification of the particular structure or bent of mind which a man receives from nature, which is the primary signification of the word.
2. The peculiar structure of mind which is given by nature to an individual, or that disposition or bent of mind which is peculiar to every man, and which qualifies him for a particular employment; a particular natural talent or aptitude of mind for a particular study or course of life; as, a genius for history, for poetry, or painting.
3. Strength of mind; uncommon powers of intellect, particularly the power of invention; In this sense we say, Homer was a man of genius. Hence,
4. A man endowed with uncommon vigor of mind; a man of superior intellectual faculties. Shakspeare was a rare genius. Addison.
5. Mental powers or faculties. [See No. 2.]
6. Nature; disposition; peculiar character; as, the genius of the times.

GEN-O-ESE', n.

An inhabitant, or the people of Genoa in Italy.

GENT, a.

Elegant; pretty; gentle. [Not in use.] Spenser.

GEN-TEEL, a. [Fr. gentil; It. gentile; Sp. gentil; L. gentilis, from gens, race, stock, family, and with the sense of noble or at least respectable birth, as we use birth and family.]

1. Polite; well bred; easy and graceful in manners or behavior; having the manners of well bred people; as, genteel company; genteel guests.
2. Polite; easy and graceful; becoming well bred persons; as, genteel manners or behavior; a genteel address.
3. Graceful in mien or form; elegant; as, the lady has a genteel person.
4. Elegantly dressed. Law.
5. Decorous; refined; free from any thing low or vulgar; as, genteel comedy. Addison.

GEN-TEEL-LY, adv.

Politely; gracefully; elegantly; is the manner of well bred people.

GEN-TEEL'NESS, n.

1. Gracefulness of manners or person; elegance; politeness. We speak of the genteelness of a person or of his deportment.
2. Qualities befitting a person of rank. Johnson.

GEN'TIAN, n. [L. gentiana; Fr. gentiane; Ar. كَنْطَا kanta.]

The popular name of a genus of plants, of many species. The officinal gentian is a native of the mountainous parts of Germany. The root, the only part used, has a yellowish brown color and a very bitter taste, and is used as an ingredient in stomachic bitters. It is sometimes called felwort. Encyc.

GEN-TIAN-EL'LA, n.

A kind of blue color.

GEN'TIL, n.

A species of falcon or hawk.

GEN'TILE, a.

Pertaining to pagans or heathens.

GEN'TILE, n. [L. gentilis; Fr. gentil; Sp. gentil; from L. gens, nation, race; applied to pagans.]

In the Scriptures, a pagan; a worshiper of false gods; any person not a Jew or a Christian; a heathen. The Hebrews included in the term goim or nations, all the tribes of men who had not received the true faith, and were not circumcised. The Christians translated goim by the L. gentes, and imitated the Jews in giving the name gentiles to all nations who were not Jews or Christians. In civil affairs, the denomination was given to all nations who were not Romans. Encyc.

GEN'TI-LESSE, n.

Complaisance. [Not in use.] Hudibras.

GEN'TIL-ISH, a.

Heathenish; pagan. Milton.

GEN'TIL-ISM, n.

Heathenism; paganism; the worship of false gods. Stillingfleet.

GEN-TIL-I'TIOUS, a. [L. gentilitius, from gens.]

1. Peculiar to a people or nation; national. Brown.
2. Hereditary; entailed on a family. Arbuthnot.

GEN-TIL'I-TY, n. [Fr. gentilité, heathenism. So in Sp. and It. from the Latin; but we take the sense from genteel.]

1. Politeness of manners; easy, graceful behavior; the manners of well bred people; genteelness.
2. Good extraction; dignity of birth. Edward.
3. Gracefulness of mien. Shak.
4. Gentry. [Not in use.] Davies.
5. Paganism; heathenism. [Not in use.] Hooker.

GEN'TIL-IZE, v.i.

To live like a heathen. Milton.

GEN-TLE, a. [See Genteel.]

1. Well born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble; as, the studies of noble and gentle youth; gentle blood. [Obs.] Milton. Pope.
2. Mild; meek; soft; bland; not rough, harsh or severe; as, a gentle nature, temper, or disposition; a gentle manner; a gentle address; a gentle voice. 1 Thess. ii. 2 Tim. ii.
3. Tame; peaceable; not wild, turbulent, or refractory; as, a gentle horse or beast.
4. Soothing; pacific. Davies.
5. Treating with mildness; not violent. A gentle hand may lead the elephant with a hair. Persian Rosary.

GEN'TLE, n.

1. A gentleman. [Obs.] Shak.
2. A kind of worm. Walton.

GENTLE, v.t.

To make genteel; to raise from the vulgar. [Obs.] Shak.

GEN'TLE-FOLK, n. [gentle and folk.]

Persons of good breeding and family. It is now used only in the plural, gentlefolks, and this use is vulgar.

GEN'TLE-MAN, n. [gentle, that is, genteel, and man. So in Fr. gentilhomme, It. gentiluomo, Sp. gentilhombre. See Genteel.]

1. In its most extensive sense, in Great Britain, every man above the rank of yeomen, comprehending noblemen; In a more limited sense, a man who without a title bears a coat of arms, or whose ancestors have been freemen. In this sense, gentlemen hold a middle rank between the nobility and yeomanry.
2. In the United States, where titles and distinctions of rank do not exist, the term is applied to men of education and of good breeding, of every occupation. Indeed this is also the popular practice in Great Britain. Hence,
3. A man of good breeding, politeness, and civil manners, as distinguished from the vulgar and clownish. A plowman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees. Franklin.
4. A term of complaisance. In the plural, the appellation by which men are addressed in popular assemblies, whatever may be their condition or character.
5. In Great Britain, the servant of a man of rank, who attends his person. Camden.

GEN'TLE-MAN-LIKE, or GEN'TLE-MAN-LY, a.

1. Pertaining to or becoming a gentleman, or a man of good family and breeding; polite; complaisant; as, gentlemanly manners.
2. Like a man of birth and good breeding; as, a gentlemanly officer.

GEN'TLE-MAN-LI-NESS, n.

Behavior of a well bred man. Sherwood.