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Gentry - 4 dictionary results

gen⋅try

  [jen-tree]
Use Gentry in a Sentence
–noun
1. wellborn and well-bred people.
2. (in England) the class below the nobility.
3. an upper or ruling class; aristocracy.
4. those who are not members of the nobility but are entitled to a coat of arms, esp. those owning large tracts of land.
5. (used with a plural verb) people, esp. considered as a specific group, class, or kind: The polo crowd doesn't go there, but these hockey gentry do.
6. the state or condition of being a gentleman.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME < OF genterie. See gentile, gentle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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gen·try   (jěn'trē)   
n.   pl. gen·tries
  1. People of gentle birth, good breeding, or high social position.
    1. An upper or ruling class.
    2. The class of English landowners ranking just below the nobility.
  3. People of a particular class or group: another commuter from the suburban gentry.

[Middle English gentri, nobility of birth, from Old French genterie, variant of genterise, gentilise, from gentil, noble; see gentle.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Gentry

Gen"try\, n. [OE. genterie, gentrie, noble birth, nobility, cf. gentrise, and OF. gentelise, genterise, E. gentilesse, also OE. genteleri high-mindedness. See Gent, a., Gentle, a.]

1. Birth; condition; rank by birth. [Obs.] "Pride of gentrie." --Chaucer.

She conquers him by high almighty Jove, By knighthood, gentry, and sweet friendship's oath. --Shak.

2. People of education and good breeding; in England, in a restricted sense, those between the nobility and the yeomanry. --Macaulay.

3. Courtesy; civility; complaisance. [Obs.]

To show us so much gentry and good will. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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gentry 
1303, from O.Fr. genterise, variant of gentilise "noble birth, gentleness," from gentil (see gentle). Gentrify "to renovate inner-city housing to middle-class standards" is a 1972 formation. In Anglo-Ir., gentry was a name for "the fairies" (1880), and gentle could mean "enchanted" (1823).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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