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).
实用例句
1. Most of them were the nobility and the landed gentry.
他们大多是贵族和地主乡绅。来自柯林斯例句
2. True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable.--David Tyson Gentry
真正的友情是，即使两人不说话，也觉得很舒服。来自金山词霸 每日一句
3. The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour.
他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级.来自《简明英汉词典》
4. The so - called golden - collar gentry are essentially nothing but brain - workers with high income.
所谓的“金领贵族”实质上不过是高收入的脑力劳动者而已.来自《简明英汉词典》
5. Landed income was the true measure of the gentry.
