Thetermgentleman(fromLatingentilis,belongingtoaraceor"gens",and"man",cognatewiththeFrenchwordgentilhommeandtheItaliangentiluomoorgentiluomo),initsoriginalandstrictsignification,denotedamanofgoodfamily,analogoustotheLatingenerosus(itsinvariabletranslationinEnglish-Latindocuments).InthissensethewordequateswiththeFrenchgentilhomme(nobleman),whichlattertermwasinGreatBritainlongconfinedtothepeerage.Theterm"gentry"(fromtheOldFrenchgenteriseforgentelise)hasmuchofthesocialclasssignificanceoftheFrenchnoblesseoroftheGermanAdel,butwithoutthestricttechnicalrequirementsofthosetraditions(suchasquartersofnobility).ThiswaswhattherebelsunderJohnBallinthe14thcenturymeantwhentheyrepeated:

　　WhenAdamdelvedandEvespan,

　　WhowasthentheGentleman?[1]

　　JohnSeldeninTitlesofHonour,(1614),discussingthetitle"gentleman",speaksof"ourEnglishuseofit"as"convertiblewithnobilis"(anambiguousword,like'noble'meaningelevatedeitherbyrankorbypersonalqualities)anddescribesinconnectionwithittheformsofennoblinginvariousEuropeancountries.

　　Toadegree,"gentleman"signifiedamanwhodidnotneedtowork,andthetermwasparticularlyusedofthosewhocouldnotclaimnobilityoreventherankofesquire.Wideningfurther,itbecameapolitenessforallmen,asinthephrase"LadiesandGentlemen,..."andthiswasthenused(oftenwiththeabbreviationGents)toindicatewheremencouldfindalavatory,withouttheneedtoindicatepreciselywhatwasbeingdescribed.

　　Inmodernspeech,thetermisusuallydemocratisedsoastoincludeanymanofgood,courteousconduct,oreventoallmen(asinindicationsofgender-separatedfacilities).