gens

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gens

(jĕnz)

n. pl. gen·tes (jĕn′tēz′)

1. A patrilineal clan of ancient Rome composed of several families of the same name claiming a common ancestor and belonging to a common religious cult.

2. Anthropology An exogamous patrilineal clan.

[Latin gēns; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gens

(dʒɛnz)

n, pl gentes (ˈdʒɛntiːz)

1. (Historical Terms) (in ancient Rome) any of a group of aristocratic families, having a common name and claiming descent from a common ancestor in the male line

2. (Anthropology & Ethnology) anthropol a group based on descent in the male line

[C19: from Latin: race; compare genus, gender]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gens

(dʒɛnz)

n., pl. gen•tes (ˈdʒɛn tiz)

1. a group of families in ancient Rome claiming descent from a common ancestor and sharing the same nomen.

2. a group of persons tracing common descent in the male line; clan.

[1840–50; < Latin gēns. compare genus, gender¹, gender²]

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Noun

gens - family based on male descent; "he had no sons and there was no one to carry on his name"

name

kinfolk, kinsfolk, phratry, family line, sept, folk, family - people descended from a common ancestor; "his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower"

References in classic literature ?

Puc.--Paisans, pauvres gens de France."--King Henry VI

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LES GENS DU COMMUN NE TROUVENT PAS DE DIFFERENCE ENTRE LES HOMMES." The typical and unvarying Hodge ceased to exist.

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Bayle thus characterises this Life of Aesop by Planudes, "Tous les habiles gens conviennent que c'est un roman, et que les absurdites grossieres qui l'on y trouve le rendent indigne de toute."

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They still piled the brushwood round the base of the tower, and gambolled hand in hand around the blaze, screaming out the doggerel lines which had long been the watchword of the Jacquerie: Cessez, cessez, gens d'armes et pietons, De piller et manger le bonhomme Qui de longtemps Jacques Bonhomme Se nomme.

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"And now let's be thankful for Gen. Pinkney and this veal roast."

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you don't remember Bob, then, as you gen the pocket-knife to, Mr.

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Gen.: Hesiod (says there were so called) because they settled in three groups: `And they all were called the Three-fold people, because they divided in three the land far from their country.' For (he says) that three Hellenic tribes settled in Crete, the Pelasgi, Achaeans and Dorians.