gente

gente

1. feminine singular of gent

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡen.te/

gente (plural gentes)

1. people

• populo

• persona

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.te/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnte
• Hyphenation: gèn‧te

Borrowed from Old Occitan gent, from Latin [​homō​] gentis (“[man] of noble family”).

• giente

gente (plural genti) (obsolete)

1. noble

   Synonym: nobile

   • 13^th c., Guido Cavalcanti, “Biltà di donna e di saccente core”, in Rime‎, Nicola Zanichelli, published 1902, lines 1–4:

     Biltà di donna e di saccente core
     e cavalieri armati che sien genti;
     cantar d’augelli e ragionar d’amore;
     adorni legni ’n mar forte correnti

     Beauty of woman and of sapient heart, and armed knights who are noble; singing of birds, and talking about love; adorned ships crossing the strong sea

2. (by extension) elegant, refined, gentle

   Synonyms: fine, gentile, leggiadro

   • 13^th c., Guittone d'Arezzo, Se de voi, donna gente, collected in Le rime di Guittone d'Arezzo, Bari: Laterza, published 1940, lines 1–4, page 3:

     Se de voi, donna gente,
     m’ha preso amor, no è giá meraviglia,
     ma miracol somiglia
     come a ciascun no ha l’anima presa

     If I have caught love for you, gentle woman, is no wonder; but it seems like a miracle that it hasn't taken everyone's soul.

From Latin gentem, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis. Doublet of genesi via Ancient Greek, and compare etymology 1.

gente f (plural genti)

1. (historical, Ancient Rome) gens (legally defined unit of Roman society)
2. lineage

   Synonyms: discendenza, (literary) genia, lignaggio, progenie, razza, (literary) schiatta, stirpe

   • 1581, Annibale Caro, transl., “Libro I”, in Eneide [Aeneid]‎, Florence: Leonardo Ciardetti, translation of Aeneis by Virgil, published 1827, page 45:

     E l'aspra Giuno […]
     […]
     Procurerà che la romana gente
     In arme e 'n toga a l'Universo imperi.

     And the cruel Juno will make it so that the Roman people, armed or with togas, rule over the Universe.

   • 1898, Giosuè Carducci, “La chiesa di Polenta [The Church of Polenta]”, in Rime e ritmi [Rhymes and rhythms]‎, collected in Poesie, Nicola Zanichelli, published 1906, lines 37–40, page 1012:

     Itala gente da le molte vite,
     dove che albeggi la tua notte e un’ombra
     vagoli spersa de’ vecchi anni, vedi
     ivi il poeta.

     Italian people, who have many lives, wherever your night dawns, and a shadow of the past years wanders around, there you find the poet.

3. population

   Synonym: popolazione

   • 1799, Vittorio Alfieri, “Sonetto XXXVI [Sonnet 36]”, in Misogallo [The French-Hater]‎, London, page 124:

     In tai due estremi, due vicine genti
     Stanno, gl'Itali, e i Galli: ambo son poco;
     Nulla quei, tutto questi, in sè veggenti

     In two such extremes are two peoples: the Italians and the French. None of them is much; the former seeing nothing, the latter everything, in themselves.

4. people (a person's ancestors, relatives or family)
5. (collective) people, guys, folks (body of human beings)
   • 1581, Annibale Caro, transl., “Libro II”, in Eneide [Aeneid]‎, Florence: Leonardo Ciardetti, translation of Aeneis by Virgil, published 1827, page 111:

     Mi volsi per veder che gente meco
     Fosse de' miei seguaci: e nullo intorno
     Più non mi vidi […]

     I turned back to see what people, among my followers, was with me, and I didn't see anyone left.

6. people (mass of a community)
   • 1530, Pietro Bembo, “Libro primo, Capitolo III”, in Gli asolani, published 1989:

     Amor, la tua virtute
     Non è dal mondo e da la gente intesa,
     Che, da viltate offesa,
     Segue suo danno e fugge sua salute.

     Love, your virtue is not understood by the world and the people, who, hurt by worthlessness, follow their doom and escape their salvation.

   • 1799, Vittorio Alfieri, “Ode - 14 dicembre 1792 [Ode - December 14, 1792]”, in Misogallo [The French-Hater]‎, London, page 77:

     Suoi doni impareggiabili
     No, non comparte Libertà verace
     A gente ch'infra i vortici
     Dei vizij tutti putrefatta giace.

     No, true Freedom doesn't share its unparalleled gifts with people who lie rotten under the vortexes of all vices.

   • 1804, Cesare Beccaria, “Parte prima - Principii e viste generali”, in Elementi di economia pubblica [Elements of Public Economics]‎, collected in Opere di Cesare Beccaria – volume secondo, Milan: Società tipografica dei classici italiani, published 1822, section 45, page 66:

     nei contorni di Parigi i figli della povera gente vivono in generale meno che nelle provincie lontane

     In the vicinity of Paris, the children of poor people generally live less than [they do] in the further provinces.

• gentaglia
• gentame

• gentile

• gente¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• gente² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

gente

1. ablative singular of gēns

• gẽte (obsolete, abbreviation)
• genti (eye dialect, Brazilian)
• gênti (eye dialect, Brazilian)
• gnt (Internet slang, Brazilian)

From Old Galician-Portuguese gente, from Latin gentem, accusative of gēns, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis.

• (Nordestino) IPA^(key): /ˈʒẽ.ti/
• Rhymes: -ẽtɨ, -ẽt͡ʃi
• Hyphenation: gen‧te

gente f (plural gentes)

1. people
   1. a group of two or more persons

      Tinha uma gente esperando na porta.

      There were some people waiting at the door.

      Synonyms: povo, pessoas

   2. persons forming a distinct identity

      A gloriosa história da gente portuguesa.

      The glorious history of the Portuguese people.

      Synonym: povo

   3. guys, folks (informal address to a group of people)

      Gente, preciso de ajuda.

      Guys, I need help.

      Synonyms: galera, rapaziada, malta

2. (historical, Ancient Rome) gens (in Ancient Rome, a group of people descending from a common ancestor)

   Synonym: gens

gente

1. (colloquial) we

• Used in informal speech, with the feminine singular definite article (a), as a substitute for the first-person plural pronoun (nós). The verb is then conjugated in the singular third-person (ele, ela). See: a gente.

1. We jumped in the pool.

   A gente pulou na piscina. / Nós pulamos na piscina

   We study everyday.

   A gente estuda todos os dias. / Nós estudamos todos os dias.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:gente.

• a gente
• gente boa
• gente fina
• gentinha (diminutive)

• gentil

gente!

1. (Brazil) expression of surprise or dismay

   Synonym: nossa

   Gente! O que aconteceu aqui

   Wow! What happened here?

Latinizing modification of Old Spanish yente, from Latin gentem, gēns, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxente/ [ˈxẽn̪.t̪e]

• Audio (Colombia)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ente
• Syllabification: gen‧te

gente f (plural gentes)

1. people

• gente corresponds most closely with the English meaning of the word "people" as "a group of two or more persons." In Spanish, as in English, this word does not typically have a plural, since it is a collective noun. The plural is used in several common idiomatic phrases, however, or, rarely, in literature (e.g. don de gentes). Note that the other common meaning of "people" in English, which does have a plural, "a group of persons forming or belonging to a particular nation, class, ethnic group, country, family, etc" does not correspond with gente, and pueblo should be used to convey that meaning, which may be singular or plural.

• Joan Coromines; José A. Pascual (1984), “gente”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), volume III (G–Ma), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 144

• “gente”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014