Definitions and meaning of gens
gens
English
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin gēns (“gens; people, tribe”), from Proto-Italic *gentis, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis (“birth; production”), from *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”) + *-tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verb roots). Doublet of kind, genesis, and jati. See also gender, generate, gentile, genus; also Latin gigno (“I bring forth”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /d͡ʒɛnz/, /ɡɛns/
- Rhymes: -ɛnz
Noun
gens (plural gentes or genses)
- (Ancient Rome, historical) A legally defined unit of Roman society, being a collection of people related through a common ancestor by birth, marriage or adoption, possibly over many generations, and sharing the same nomen gentilicium.
- (anthropology) A tribal subgroup whose members are characterized by having the same descent, usually along the male line.
- (zoology) A host-specific lineage of a brood parasite species.[W]
Usage notes
Regarding sense 1 (“historical Roman unit of society”), the concept is close to and often translated as clan, but the two are not identical. The alternative tribe is also sometimes used, but the Latin tribus has a separate meaning.
Synonyms
- (Roman unit of society): clan, tribe (but see the usage note)
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
Clipping of generations.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /d͡ʒɛnz/
Noun
gens
- plural of gen (clipping of generation).
References
Further reading
- gens on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology 1
Inherited from Latin genus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈʒens]
- IPA(key): (Valencia) [ˈd͡ʒens]
Adverb
gens
- (in negative phrases) at all
- No m'agrada gens. ― I don't like it at all.
- (in negative constructions) not any
- No queda gens de sal. ― There isn't any salt left.
- (in interrogative constructions) any
- Et queda gens de sal? ― Do you have any salt left?
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈʒɛns]
- IPA(key): (Valencia) [ˈd͡ʒens]
Noun
gens
- plural of gen (“gene”)
References
- “gens” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “gens”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
- “gens” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “gens” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Finnish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin gēns.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡens/, [ˈɡe̞ns̠]
- Rhymes: -ens
- Hyphenation(key): gens
Noun
gens
- (historical) gens (a unit in Ancient Roman society)
Declension
Franco-Provençal
Etymology
Inherited from Latin gentēs.
Noun
gens f pl (plural only) (ORB, broad)
- people
References
- gens in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
- gens in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu
French
Etymology
From an earlier gents, from the plural of Old French gent, genz, from gentem, accusative of gēns.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʒɑ̃/
-
- (Canada) IPA(key): /ʒã/
- (Haiti) IPA(key): /ʒɑ̃s/
- (Louisiana) IPA(key): /ʒɑ̃(s)/
- Rhymes: -ɑ̃
- Homophones: gent, gents, jan, jans, Jean
Noun
gens m pl (plural only)
- set of people
Usage notes
- When gens is preceded by an attributive adjective which has a different feminine form, this adjective, along with any preceding determiner, is made feminine. However, adjectives after the noun remain masculine.
- Toutes les bonnes gens heureux
- Tous ces honnêtes gens
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
Further reading
- “gens”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Icelandic
Noun
gens
- indefinite genitive singular of gen
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *gentis, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis, from root *ǵenh₁- (“to produce, to beget, to give birth”).
See also generō, genus, gignō. Cognate with English kind, Sanskrit जाति (jāti), Ancient Greek γένος (génos) and Ancient Greek γένεσις (génesis), whence English genesis.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈɡens/, [ˈɡẽːs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒens/, [ˈd͡ʒɛns]
Noun
gēns f (genitive gentis); third declension
- Roman clan (related by birth or marriage and sharing a common name and often united by certain religious rites)
- stock, tribe
- nation, country
- people, family
- Synonyms: tribus, prōlēs, prōgeniēs
- the chief gods
- (biblical, Christianity, Judaism) heathen, pagan
Declension
Third-declension noun (i-stem).
Derived terms
Descendants
References
Further reading
- “gens”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “gens”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- "gens", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- gens in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- “gens”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- gens in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
- “gens”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
Norman
Etymology
From Old French gens, gent, from Latin gēns, gentis.
Noun
gens m pl
- (Guernsey, plural only) people
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin gēns. Doublet of gente.
Noun
gens f (invariable)
- (Ancient Rome) gens (in Ancient Rome, a group of people descending from a common ancestor)
- Synonym: gente
Spanish
Noun
gens f (plural genss)
- (Ancient Rome) gens
Swedish
Noun
gens
- indefinite genitive singular of gen
Source: wiktionary.org