Her body gent and small.
Chaucer.
Gen*teel" (?), a. [F. gentil noble, pretty, graceful. See Gentle.] 1.
Possessing or exhibiting the qualities popularly regarded as belonging
to high birth and breeding; free from vulgarity, or lowness of taste or
behavior; adapted to a refined or cultivated taste; polite; well-bred;
as, genteel company, manners, address.
2. Graceful in mien or form; elegant in appearance, dress, or manner;
as, the lady has a genteel person. Law.
3. Suited to the position of lady or a gentleman; as, to live in a
genteel allowance.
Syn. -- Polite; well-bred; refined; polished.
Gen*teel"ish, a. Somewhat genteel.
Gen*teel"ly, adv. In a genteel manner.
Gen*teel"ness, n. The quality of being genteel.
Gen"ter*ie (?), Gen"trie (&?;), n. [OE. See Gentry.] Nobility of birth
or of character; gentility. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Gen"tian (jn"shan or - sh*an), n. [OE. genciane, F. gentiane, L.
gentiana, fr. Gentius, an Illyrian king, said to have discovered its
properties.] (Bot.) Any one of a genus (Gentiana) of herbaceous plants
with opposite leaves and a tubular four- or five-lobed corolla, usually
blue, but sometimes white, yellow, or red. See Illust. of Capsule.
Many species are found on the highest mountains of Europe, Asia, and
America, and some are prized for their beauty, as the Alpine (Gentiana
verna, Bavarica, and excisa), and the American fringed gentians (G.
crinita and G. detonsa). Several are used as tonics, especially the
bitter roots of Gentiana lutea, the officinal gentian of the
pharmacopúias.
Horse gentian, fever root. -- Yellow gentian (Bot.), the officinal
gentian (Gentiana lutea). See Bitterwort.
Gen`tian*a"ceous (?), a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to a natural order of
plants (GentianaceÊ) of which the gentian is the type.
Gen`tian*el"la (?), n. [See Gentian.] A kind of blue color. Johnson.
Gen`ti*an"ic (?), a. Pertaining to or derived from the gentian; as,
gentianic acid.
Gen"tian*ine (?), n. (Chem.) A bitter, crystallizable substance
obtained from gentian.
Gen"tian*ose` (?), n. (Chem.) A crystallizable, sugarlike substance,
with a slightly sweetish taste, obtained from the gentian.
Gen"til (?), a. & n. Gentle. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Gen"tile (jn"tl), n. [L. gentilis belonging to the same clan, stock,
race, people, or nation; in opposition to Roman, a foreigner; in
opposition to Jew or Christian, a heathen: cf. F. gentil. See Gentle,
a.] One of a non-Jewish nation; one neither a Jew nor a Christian; a
worshiper of false gods; a heathen.
The Hebrews included in the term gyim, or nations, all the tribes of
men who had not received the true faith, and were not circumcised. The
Christians translated gyim by the L. gentes, and imitated the Jews in
giving the name gentiles to all nations who were neither Jews nor
Christians. In civil affairs, the denomination was given to all nations
who were not Romans.
Syn. -- Pagan; heathen. See Pagan.
Gen"tile, a. 1. Belonging to the nations at large, as distinguished
from the Jews; ethnic; of pagan or heathen people.