gen·tle (jĕn'tl)
adj., -tler, -tlest.

1. Considerate or kindly in disposition; amiable and tender.
2. Not harsh or severe; mild and soft: a gentle scolding; a gentle tapping at the window.
3. Easily managed or handled; docile: a gentle horse.
4. Not steep or sudden; gradual: a gentle incline.
5. 1. Of good family; wellborn: a child of gentle birth.
   2. Suited to one of good breeding; refined and polite: a gentle greeting to a stranger.
6. Archaic. Noble; chivalrous: a gentle knight.

n. Archaic
One of good birth or relatively high station.

tr.v., -tled, -tling, -tles.

1. To make less severe or intense: The peaceful sunset gentled her dreadful mood.
2. To soothe, as by stroking; pacify.
3. To tame or break (a domestic animal, for instance): gentle a horse.
4. To raise to the status of a noble.

[Middle English gentil, courteous, noble, from Old French, from Latin gentīlis, of the same clan, from gēns, gent-, clan.]

gentleness gen'tle·ness n.
gently gen'tly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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