c. 1300, "nobility of rank or birth;" mid-14c., "a fashion or custom of the nobility;" late 14c., "nobility of character," from Old French genterie, genterise, variant of gentelise "noble birth, aristocracy; courage, honor; kindness, gentleness," from gentil "high-born, noble, of good family" (see gentle). Meaning "noble persons, the class of well-born and well-bred people" is from 1520s in English, later often in England referring to the upper middle class, persons of means and leisure but below the nobility. Earlier in both senses was gentrice (c. 1200 as "nobility of character," late 14c. as "noble persons"), and gentry in early use also might have been regarded as a singular of that. In Anglo-Irish, gentry was a name for "the fairies" (1880), and gentle could mean "enchanted" (1823).
雙語(yǔ)例句
1. Most of them were the nobility and the landed gentry.
他們大多是貴族和地主鄉(xiāng)紳。
來(lái)自柯林斯例句
2. True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.--David Tyson Gentry
真正的友情是，即使兩人不說(shuō)話，也覺(jué)得很舒服。
來(lái)自金山詞霸 每日一句
3. The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour.
他們采用的方法嚴(yán)重偏袒中上階級(jí).
來(lái)自《簡(jiǎn)明英漢詞典》
4. The so - called golden - collar gentry are essentially nothing but brain - workers with high income.