gens

English

Etymology 1

Shortened from generations.

Abbreviation

gens

1. generations

See also

• gen

Etymology 2

From Latin gēns (“gens; tribe, people”). See also gentile, gender, genus, generate.

Noun

gens (plural gentes or genses)

1. A legally defined unit of Roman society closest in meaning to and translated by English clan, but not identical to it. The gens was a collection of families whose members were related by birth, marriage or adoption. All the families were considered to have descended from a common clan ancestor although in cases where the time from the ancestor to the contemporary time was great the kinship was more remote than is meant by the English term "related." In such cases the legal definition still prevailed.
2. (anthropology) a tribal subgroup whose members are characterized by having the same descent, usually along the male line
   • 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:

     The taboos, the laws, the rules of genses, tribes, and nations, from the lowest to the highest, are upheld by a vague terror and sacred awe which society impresses on man by threats of ill-luck, fearful evil, and terrible punishments befalling sinners and transgressors of the tabooed, of the holy and the forbidden, charged with a mysterious, highly contagious, and virulently infective life-consuming energy.

Anagrams

• engs
• negs

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Catalan

Adverb

gens

1. a bit
2. a few

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French

Etymology

From an earlier gents, plural of gent, from Latin gentem, accusative of gēns.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʒɑ̃/, X-SAMPA: /ZA~/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃
• Homophone: Jean

Noun

gens m pl

1. (plural only) set of people

   Ces gens-là ont toujours été sympas avec moi.

   Those people have always been kind to me.

   Je n’aime pas les gens qui se prennent pour le nombril du monde.

   I don't like people who think the world revolves around them.

Related terms

• gente

See also

• peuple m

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Guernésiais

Etymology

From Latin gēns.

Noun

gens mpl

1. (plural only) people

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Latin

Wikipedia ^la

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis, from *ǵenh₁-, from which also gignō, generō, genus.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡeːns/

Noun

gēns (genitive gentis); f, third declension

1. Roman clan, related by birth or marriage and sharing a common name.
2. tribe; people
3. the chief gods

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	gēns	gentēs
genitive	gentis	gentium
dative	gentī	gentibus
accusative	gentem	gentēs 1
ablative	gente	gentibus
vocative	gēns	gentēs

¹May also be gentīs.

Derived terms

• genticus
• gentilīcius
• gentīlis
• gentīlitās

Descendants

• Albanian: gjini
• Aromanian: gjintã
• Asturian: xente
• Catalan: gent
• French: gens
• Italian: gente
• Neapolitan: gente

• Occitan: gent
• Old French: gent
• Portuguese: gente
• Romanian: gintă
• Sardinian: gente, genti, tzente, zente
• Sicilian: genti
• Spanish: gente
• Venetian: dente, xente, zente

References

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Swedish

Noun

gens

1. indefinite genitive singular of gen