Etymology

gentry

gen·try
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Today it means: Birth; condition; rank by birth. Full definition →

Old French genterie
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromgenterie“noble people collectively; nobility of character or manners”
  2. English todaygentry

From Old French genterie (“noble people collectively; nobility of character or manners”), from gent (“well-born”) + -erie.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.