gentleman

plural gentlemen

1. Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.

   She wanted to go see a movie called Gigi, which I was not too thrilled about. But being a gentleman, I bit my tongue and said, “Okay.”

   2011, Mike Pappas, Growing Up the Greek Way in the Big Apple, page 103

   2 more examples

   I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,[…]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get.[…]I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.

   1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC

2. broadlypoliteterm of addressAny man.

   Please escort this gentleman to the gentlemen's room.

   Synonyms: sahib

3. historicalA man of gentle but not noble birth, particularly a man of means (originally ownership of property) who does not work for a living but has no official status in a peerage; (UK law) an armigerous man ranking below a knight.

   Being a gentleman, Robert was entitled to shove other commoners into the gongpit but he still had to jump out of the way of the knights to avoid the same fate himself.

   3 more examples

   And when their ſcattered armie is ſubdu’d: And you march on their ſlaughtered carkaſſes, Share equally the gold that bought their liues, And liue like Gentlmen in Perſea, […]

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii

   But when Adam delued, and Eue ſpan, VVho was then a Gentleman?

   1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I

   “[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

4. derogatoryAn effeminate or oversophisticated man.

   Well, la-di-da, aren't you just a proper gentleman?

   Synonyms: cockney, puss-gentleman, sissy, bading, big girl's blouse, cockney, cot-quean, cupcake

5. derogatoryhistoricalsometimesusuallyAn amateur or dabbler in any field, particularly those of independent means.

   Latrobe had extensive dealings with Jefferson, the most prominent gentleman-architect in the United States.

   2004, Mary N. Woods, “The First Professional: Benjamin Henry Latrobe”, in Keith L. Eggener, editor, American Architectural History: A Contemporary Reader, electronic edition, Routledge, →ISBN, page 119

   Synonyms: dilettante

6. ball gamesAn amateur player, particularly one whose wealth permits him to forego payment.

plural Gentlemans

1. A surname transferred from the nickname.