Etymology

gently

gen·tly
G2E1N1T1L1Y4

Today it means: Without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly. Full definition →

Middle English gentilly
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromgentilly
  2. English todaygently

From Middle English gentilly, gentlych, gentilliche, equivalent to gentle + -ly, with *-lely simplified to -ly by haplology.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.