See Also: gentry(dictionary)
gentry(dictionary)
Gentry Resources(finance)

gentry (iou)



gentry noun. LME.
[Old French genterie.]
Superiority of birth or rank; gentility. Formerly also occas. in neutral sense, quality of birth or rank. obsolete exc. Scot. LME.
Jonson We haue raised Seianus from obscure, and almost vnknowne Gentry. Alan Ross 'Tis madness to presume too much upon our birth and Gentry.
Conduct characteristic of a person of gentle birth; politeness of manners, good breeding. Formerly also, graciousness, magnanimity, etc. obsolete exc. Scot. LME.
People of gentle birth or good breeding; the class composed of such people, spec. that below the nobility. L16.
G. B. Shaw The horrible condition of the working classes that underlies..the prestige of the landed gentry and peerage. H. Arendt The English gentry..had assimilated the higher ranks of the bourgeoisie.
People of a specified kind. joc. or derog. E18.
Thackeray The light-fingered gentry pick pockets furiously. transf.: George Eliot The broken discourse of poultry and other lazy gentry in the afternoon sunshine.
The fairies. Anglo-Irish. L19.