Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “gens” come from?

gens (French) comes from French gents, from Old French gent, from Latin genitus, from Latin gignere, from Latin genere, from Latin genus, from Proto-Italic genos, from Proto-Indo-European ǵénh₁os — to produce, to beget, to give birth.

gens (French): set of people

Definitions

  1. set of people

Ancestry of “gens”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchgentsplural of gent; masculine plural of gent
2Old Frenchgentpeople, population; fair, beautiful, handsome;...
3Latingenitusbegotten; engendered; produced
4Latingigneresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
5Latingenereablative singular of genus; to beget, produce
6Latingenusbirth, origin, lineage, descent; kind, type,...
7Proto-Italicgenoslineage, origin
8Proto-Indo-Europeanǵénh₁osrace, lineage
9Proto-Indo-Europeanǵenh₁-to produce, to beget, to give birth
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁- →