Gentleman
Title of address for a noble man
Gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: gentilz hom, "gentle man"; colloquial: gent) is a chivalrous, courteous, or honourable man. Originally, gentleman was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the rank of gentleman comprised the younger sons of the younger sons of peers, and the younger sons of a baronet, a knight, and an esquire, in perpetual succession. As such, the connotation of the term gentleman captures the common denominator of gentility (and often a coat of arms); a right shared by the peerage and the gentry, the constituent classes of the British nobility. Thus, the English social category of gentleman corresponds to the French gentilhomme (nobleman), which in Great Britain meant a member of the peerage of England. English historian Maurice Keen further clarifies this point, stating that, in this context, the social category of gentleman is "the nearest contemporary English equivalent of the noblesse of France." In the...
Read on Wikipedia · Image Robert Vaughan (circa 1600 - 1660), Public domain
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