Meanings
- archaicuncountableThe state or quality of being high-born; gentility.
The tragedy, however, as Burke and other British statesmen were to declare, had already been prepared indirectly by Gentlemen Johnny Burgoyne, whose claims to gentrice were as dubious as his talents as a general.
1939, Harold W. Thompson, Body, Boots, & Britches: Folktales, Ballads, and Speech from Country New York, Syracuse University Press, published 1979, →ISBN, page 3261 more example
“And where could I get a horse to him?” cried Alan, turning on her with the same appearance of fury. “Would ye have me steal?” […] “Ye neednae tell me,” she said at last—“ye’re gentry.” “Well,” said Alan, softened a little (I believe against his will) by this artless comment, “and suppose we were? Did ever you hear that gentrice put money in folk’s pockets?”
1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC - archaicuncountableHigh-born individuals collectively; gentry.
[…] I don't hold with gentrice who fetch their drink from London instead of helping local traders to get their living."
1913, Richard Middleton, The Ghost Ship and Other Stories, Mitchell Kennerley, published 1913, page 161 more example
Where she came from no man could tell. There were some said she was no woman, but a ghost haunting some mortal tenement. Others would threep she was gentrice, come of a persecuting family in the west, who had been ruined in the Revolution wars.
1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
Origin
- Old Frenchgenterise
- Middle Englishgentryse
- Englishgentrice
From Middle English gentryse, from Old French genterise, variant form of gentelise, from gentil.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gentrice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gentrice
“gentrice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gentrice. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gentrice,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gentrice.
Source: gentrice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.