Gens definition

jĕnz
gentes
See word origin
Frequency:
In ancient Rome, a clan united by descent through the male line from a common ancestor and having both name and religious observances in common.
noun
5
0
A patrilineal clan of ancient Rome composed of several families of the same name claiming a common ancestor and belonging to a common religious cult.
noun
2
0
(anthropology) An exogamous patrilineal clan.
noun
2
0
Any tribe or clan; esp., an exogamous group claiming descent through the male line.
noun
1
0
Generations.
abbreviation
1
0
Advertisement
(historical) A legally defined unit of Roman society, being a collection of people related by birth, marriage or adoption, but allowing a greater amount of time between members and their common ancestor than is commonly implied by the term related.
noun
0
0
(anthropology) A tribal subgroup whose members are characterized by having the same descent, usually along the male line.
noun
0
0

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
gens
Plural:
gentes, genses

Origin of gens

  • Latin gēns genə- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin gēns (“gens; tribe, people”); see also gentile, gender, genus, generate.

    From Wiktionary

  • Shortened from generations.

    From Wiktionary

Gens Sentence Examples

  • It is not known to what gens he belonged.

  • The name seems to show that he was a freedman of some member of the Clodian gens.

  • This was the famous " ash-altar " at which the Iamidae, the hereditary gens of seers, practised those rights of divination by fire in virtue of which more especially Olympia is saluted by Pindar as mistress of truth."

  • The Turkish government also levies taxes on the inhabitants of the river valley, and for this purpose, and to maintain a caravan route from the Mediterranean coast to Bagdad, maintains stations of a few zaptiehs or gens d'armes, at intervals of about 8 hours (caravan time), occupying in general the stations of the old Persian post road.

  • His Essai sur la societe des gens de lettres avec les grands was a worthy vindication of the independence of literary men, and a thorough exposure of the evils of the system of patronage.

More sentences

Related articles

Words near gens in the Dictionary