gens

American  

[jenz] / dʒɛnz /

noun

plural

gentes

1. a group of families in ancient Rome claiming descent from a common ancestor and united by a common name and common ancestral religious rites.

2. Anthropology. a group tracing common descent in the male line; clan.

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gens British  

/ dʒɛnz /

noun

1. (in ancient Rome) any of a group of aristocratic families, having a common name and claiming descent from a common ancestor in the male line

2. anthropol a group based on descent in the male line

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Other Word Forms

• subgens noun

Etymology

Origin of gens

First recorded in 1840–50, gens is from the Latin word gēns race, people. See genus, gender ¹, gender ²

Example Sentences

The gens de couleur libres, on the other hand, interpreted the revolutionary rhetoric of liberty to mean the extension of equal rights to all free people regardless of race.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

The conflict between Whites and gens de couleur libres exploded in 1791, after Haiti’s White population refused to acknowledge the citizenship rights that France had extended to wealthy people of color.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Project Starscape has launched two batches - popularly called "gens" - of VTubers so far.

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2022

Legitimate companies and the Associated Locksmiths of America, however, have been howling about lead gens since they first started popping up in the early 2000s.

From New York Times • Jan. 30, 2016

“You’re a traitor to your gens, girl,” Grandfather says, the only man in the Empire brave enough to refer to my mother as a girl.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir