Etymology

gens

G2E1N1S1

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Latin gēns ← Proto-Italic *gentis ← Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis
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gens · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵénh₁tis“birth; production”
  2. Proto-Italic · derived from*gentis
  3. Latin · derived fromgēns“gens; people, tribe”
  4. English todaygens

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 (“to bring forth”).

gens · noun2

Clipping of generations.

Gens · proper noun3

  1. German · borrowed fromGens
  2. English todayGens

Borrowed from German Gens, a variant of Jens.

Words from the same roots

Latingēns all →

gauntgeno-genticidetercel gentle

Proto-Italic*gentis all →

gaunt

Proto-Indo-European*ǵénh₁tis all →

gauntbiogenesisabiogenesis

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.