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Added 9 October 2026

gentile

/ˈd͡ʒɛntaɪl/ noun

In Latin: gēns Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about gentile at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A person who does not acknowledge your god.
A person who is not a member of one's own religion; used in this sense by Mormons and Hindus.
A Christian as contrasted with a Jew.

adjective

Belonging to or characteristic of non-Jewish peoples.

Origin

Borrowed from French gentil (“gentile”), from Latin gentīlis (“of or belonging to the same people or nation”), morphologically from gēns (“clan; tribe; people, family”) + adjective suffix -īlis (“-ile”). Doublet of gentle, genteel, jaunty, and Gentoo. See also gens, gender, genus, and generation.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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