or other uses, see Gentleman (disambiguation).

"Gentilhombre" redirects here. For the racehorse, see Gentilhombre (horse).

Royal, noble and
chivalric ranks
Coronet of mediatised prince of the HRE
Emperor
King
Archduke
Grand Prince
Grand Duke
Prince / Infante
Duke
Sovereign Prince / Frst
Marquess / Marquis /
Margrave / Landgrave /
Count palatine
Count / Earl
Viscount / Vidame
Baron
Baronet
Hereditary Knight
Knight
Esquire
Gentleman
v t e
In modern parlance, the term gentleman (from Latin gentis, belonging to a race o
r gens, and man, the Italian gentil uomo or gentiluomo, the French gentilhomme,
the Spanish gentilhombre, the Portuguese gentil-homem , and the Esperanto gentil
mano) refers to any man of good, courteous conduct. It may also refer to all men
collectively, as in indications of gender-separated facilities, or as a sign of
the speaker's own courtesy when addressing others. The modern female equivalent
is lady.
In its original meaning, the term denoted a man of the lowest rank of the Englis
h gentry, standing below an esquire and above a yeoman. By definition, this cate
gory included the younger sons of the younger sons of peers and the younger sons
of baronets, knights, and esquires in perpetual succession, and thus the term c
aptures the common denominator of gentility (and often armigerousness) shared by
both constituents of the English aristocracy: the peerage and the gentry. In th
is sense, the word equates with the French gentilhomme ("nobleman"), which latte
r term has been, in Great Britain, long confined to the peerage. Maurice Keen po
ints to the category of "gentlemen" in this context as thus constituting "the ne
arest contemporary English equivalent of the noblesse of France".[1] The notion
of "gentlemen" as encapsulating the members of the hereditary ruling class was w
hat the rebels under John Ball in the 14th century meant when they repeated:
When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?[2]
John Selden, in Titles of Honour (1614), discussing the title gentleman, likewis
e speaks of "our English use of it" as "convertible with nobilis" (an ambiguous
word, noble meaning elevated either by rank or by personal qualities) and descri
bes in connection with it the forms of ennobling in various European countries.
By social courtesy the designation came to include any well-educated man of good
family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus (its usual translation
in English-Latin documents, although nobilis is found throughout pre-Reformatio
n papal correspondence). To a degree, gentleman came to signify a man with an in
come derived from property, a legacy, or some other source, who was thus indepen
dently wealthy and did not need to work.[not verified in body] The term was part
icularly used of those who could not claim any other title or even the rank of e
squire. Widening further, it became a politeness for all men, as in the phrase L
adies and Gentlemen,....