The term
gentleman (from
Latin gentilis, belonging to a race or "
gens", and "man",
cognate with the
French word
gentilhomme, the
Spanish gentilhombre and the
Italian gentil uomo or
gentiluomo), in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good
family, analogous to the Latin
generosus (its invariable translation in English-Latin documents). In this sense the word equates with the French
gentilhomme (nobleman), which latter term was in
Great Britain long confined to the
peerage. The term "
gentry" (from the Old French
genterise for
gentelise) has much of the social class significance of the French
noblesse or of the
German Adel, but without the strict technical requirements of those traditions (such as
quarters of nobility). This was what the rebels under
John Ball in the 14th century meant when they repeated:
John Selden in
Titles of Honour (1614), discussing the title "gentleman", speaks of "our English use of it" as "convertible with
nobilis" (an ambiguous word, like 'noble' meaning elevated either by rank or by personal qualities) and describes in connection with it the forms of ennobling in various European countries.
To a degree, "gentleman" signified a man with an income derived from property, a legacy or some other source, and was thus independently wealthy and did not need to work. The term was particularly used of those who could not claim nobility or even the rank of
esquire.
