gentleman
Sign in to savethumb|right|300px|The Complete English Gentleman (1630), by Richard Brathwait, shows the exemplary qualities of a gentleman.
AI overview
A "gentleman" is a man who embodies certain exemplary qualities of conduct and character, as outlined in historical guides like Richard Brathwait's 1630 work on the subject. The concept matters because it has shaped cultural ideals about how men should behave and what standards of respectability and honor they should uphold.
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Article
17 sectionsContents
- Gentleman by conduct
- William Harrison
- William Shakespeare
- Superiority of the fighting man
- Confucianism
- Southern United States
- Landed gentry
- George Sitwell
- Further decline of standards
- A line between classes
- Formal court titles
- Modern usage
- Gentlemen as members of the nobility
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|right|300px|The Complete English Gentleman (1630), by Richard Brathwait, shows the exemplary qualities of a gentleman.
A gentleman (Old French: gentilz hom, "gentle man"; colloquial: gent) is a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, gentleman was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the rank of gentleman comprised the younger sons of the younger sons of peers, and the younger sons of a baronet, a knight, and an esquire, in perpetual succession. As such, the connotation of the term gentleman captures the common denominator of gentility (and often a coat of arms); a right shared by the peerage and the gentry, the constituent classes of the British nobility.