Inherited fromSpanishgente.

• IPA^(key):/ˈxente/,[ˈxẽn̪.t̪e]
• Hyphenation:gen‧te

gente

1. person;people

gente

1. femininesingular ofgent

• IPA^(key):/ˈɡen.te/

gente (pluralgentes)

1. people

• populo

• persona

• IPA^(key):/ˈd͡ʒɛn.te/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɛnte
• Hyphenation:gèn‧te

Borrowed fromOld Occitangent, fromLatin[​homō​]gentis(“[man] of noble family”).

• giente

gente (pluralgenti)(obsolete)

1. noble

   Synonym:nobile

   • a.1290,Guido Cavalcanti,Beltà di donna di piagente core [Beauty of lovely-hearted woman]‎^[1], lines1–4; collected in Ercole Rivalta, editor,Rime di Guido Cavalcanti [Rhymes of Guido Cavalcanti]‎^[2], Bologna: Nicola Zanichelli,1902,page109:

     Beltà di donna di piagente core, / e cavalieri armati che siangenti, / cantar d’augelli, e ragionar d’amore, / adorni legni in mar forte correnti

     Beauty of lovely-hearted woman, and armed knights who arenoble; singing of birds, and talking about love; adorned ships crossing the strong sea

2. (by extension)elegant,refined,gentle

   Synonyms:fine,gentile,leggiadro

   • 13^th century,Guittone d'Arezzo,Se de voi, donnagente [If of you,gentle woman]‎^[3], lines1–4; collected in Francesco Egidi, editor,Le rime di Guittone d'Arezzo [The rhymes of Guittone d'Arezzo]‎^[4], Bari: Laterza,1940,page 3:

     Se de voi, donnagente, / m’ha preso amor, no è giá meraviglia, / ma miracol somiglia / come a ciascun no ha l’anima presa

     If I have caught love for you,gentle woman, is no wonder; but it seems like a miracle that it hasn't taken everyone's soul.

FromLatingentem, fromProto-Indo-European*ǵénh₁tis.Doublet ofgenesi viaAncient Greek, and compare etymology 1.

gente f (pluralgenti)

1. (historical,Ancient Rome)gens(legally defined unit of Roman society)
2. lineage

   Synonyms:discendenza,(literary)genia,lignaggio,progenie,razza,(literary)schiatta,stirpe

   • mid 1560s [29–19BCE], “Libro primo”, inAnnibale Caro, transl.,Eneide, translation ofAeneis byPublius Vergilius Maro (in Classical Latin), lines450, 453–454; republished asL’Eneide di Virgilio‎^[5], Florence: G. Barbera,1892:

     E l’aspra Giuno,[…] /[…] / Procurerà che la romanagente / In arme e ’n toga a l’universo imperi.

     And the cruel Juno will make it so that the Romanpeople, armed or with togas, rule over the Universe.

   • 1898,Giosuè Carducci, “La chiesa di Polenta [The Church of Polenta]”, inRime e ritmi [Rhymes and rhythms]‎^[6], lines37–40; collected inPoesie di Giosuè Carducci [Poems by Giosuè Carducci]‎^[7],1906,page1012:

     Italagente da le molte vite, / dove che albeggi la tua notte e un’ombra / vagoli spersa de’ vecchi anni, vedi / ivi il poeta.

     Italianpeople, who have many lives, wherever your night dawns, and a shadow of the past years wanders around, there you find the poet.

3. population

   Synonym:popolazione

   • 1789–1798,Vittorio Alfieri, “Sonetto ⅩⅩⅩⅥ. 20 febbraio 1795. [Sonnet 36 - 20 February 1795]”, inMisogallo [French-hater]‎^[8], lines9–11; collected inGli epigrammi, le satire, il Misogallo di Vittorio Alfieri [The epigrams, the satires, theFrench-hater by Vittorio Alfieri]‎^[9], Turin, Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples: Ditta G. B. Paravia e comp.,1903,page178:

     In tai due estremi, due vicinegenti / Stanno, gl’Itali, e i Galli: ambo son poco; / Nulla quei, tutto questi in sè veggenti.

     In two such extremes are twopeoples: the Italians and the French. None of them is much; the former seeing nothing, the latter everything, in themselves.

4. people(a person's ancestors, relatives or family)
5. (collective)people,guys,folks(body of human beings)
   • mid 1560s [29–19BCE], “Libro secondo”, inAnnibale Caro, transl.,Eneide, translation ofAeneis byPublius Vergilius Maro (in Classical Latin), lines921–923; republished asL’Eneide di Virgilio‎^[10], Florence: G. Barbera,1892:

     Mi volsi per veder chegente meco / Fosse de’ miei seguaci; e nullo intorno / Più non mi vidi[…]

     I turned back to see whatpeople, among my followers, was with me, and I didn't see anyone left.

6. people(mass of a community)
   • 1530,Pietro Bembo, “Libro primo, Capitolo Ⅲ [First book, Chapter 3]”, inGli Asolani [TheAsolani]‎^[11]; collected in Carlo Dionisotti, editor,Prose della volgar lingua, Gli Asolani, Rime (I classici italiani TEA Tascabili), Milan: Editori Associati,1989:

     Amor, la tua virtute / Non è dal mondo e da lagente intesa, / Che, da viltate offesa, / Segue suo danno e fugge sua salute.

     Love, your virtue is not understood by the world and thepeople, who, hurt by worthlessness, follow their doom and escape their salvation.

   • 1789–1798,Vittorio Alfieri, “Ode - 29 decembre 1792. [Ode - 29 December 1792]”, inMisogallo [French-hater]‎^[12]; collected inGli epigrammi, le satire, il Misogallo di Vittorio Alfieri [The epigrams, the satires, theFrench-hater by Vittorio Alfieri]‎^[13], Turin, Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples: Ditta G. B. Paravia e comp.,1903,page157:

     Suoi doni impareggiabili / No, non comparte Libertà verace / Agente, ch’infra i vortici / Dei vizj tutti putrefatta giace.

     No, true Freedom doesn't share its unparalleled gifts withpeople who lie rotten under the vortexes of all vices.

   • 1804,Cesare Beccaria, “Parte prima - Principii e viste generali [General principles and viewpoints]”, inElementi di economia pubblica [Elements of public economics]‎^[14], section45; collected inOpere di Cesare Beccaria‎^[15], volume 2, Milan: Società tipografica dei classici italiani,1822,page66:

     nei contorni di Parigi i figli della poveragente vivono in generale meno che nelle provincie lontane

     In the vicinity of Paris, the children of poorpeople generally live less than [they do] in the further provinces.

• gentile

• gente¹ in Treccani.it –Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• gente² in Treccani.it –Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

gente

1. ablativesingular ofgēns

• gnt(text messaging,Brazil)
• genti,gênti(pronunciation spelling,Brazil)
• gẽte(obsolete,abbreviation)

FromOld Galician-Portuguesegente, fromLatingentem, fromProto-Indo-European*ǵénh₁tis.

• (Northeast Brazil)IPA^(key):/ˈʒẽ.ti/
• Rhymes:-ẽtɨ,-ẽt͡ʃi
• Hyphenation:gen‧te

gente f (pluralgentes)

1. people
   2. a group of two or more persons

      Tinha umagente esperando na porta.

      There weresome people waiting at the door.

      Synonyms:povo,pessoas

   4. persons forming a distinct identity

      A gloriosa história dagente portuguesa.

      The glorious history of the Portuguesepeople.

      Synonym:povo

   5. guys,folks(informal address to a group of people)

      Gente, preciso de ajuda.

      Guys, I need help.

      Synonyms:galera,rapaziada,malta

3. (historical,Ancient Rome)gens(in Ancient Rome, a group of people descending from a common ancestor)

   Synonym:gens

gente

1. (colloquial)we

• Used in informal speech, with the feminine singular definite article (a), as a substitute for the first-person plural pronoun (nós). The verb is then conjugated in the singular third-person (ele,ela). See:a gente.

  Wejumped in the pool.

  A gentepulou na piscina. /Nóspulamos na piscina

  Westudy every day.

  A genteestuda todos os dias. /Nósestudamos todos os dias.

For quotations using this term, seeCitations:gente.

• a gente
• gente boa
• gente fina
• gentinha(diminutive)

• gentil

gente!

1. (Brazil)expression of surprise or dismay

   Synonym:nossa

   Gente! O que aconteceu aqui

   Wow! What happened here?

Latinizing modification ofOld Spanishyente, inherited fromLatingentem.

• IPA^(key):/ˈxente/[ˈxẽn̪.t̪e]

• Audio(Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ente
• Syllabification:gen‧te

gente f (pluralgentes)

1. people

   Lagente suele encontrar algunas cosas muy motivadoras, y otras no.

   People tend to find some things highly motivating, and other things not.

• Gente corresponds most closely with the English meaning of the wordpeople as "a group of two or more persons". In Spanish, this word is acollective noun and does not typically have a plural. The plural is used in several common idiomatic phrases, however, or, rarely, in literature (e.g.don de gentes). Note that the other common meaning ofpeople in English, in which the pluralpeoples can be formed, "a group of persons forming or belonging to a particular nation, country, etc." doesnot correspond withgente, andpueblo should be used to convey that meaning (which may be singular or plural).

• Joan Coromines,José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “gente”, inDiccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume III (G–Ma), Madrid: Gredos,→ISBN, page144

• “gente”, inDiccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8,Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish:Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10