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• gentile
  gentile

  adjective

  of or relating to any people not Jewish.
• Gentile
  Gentile

  noun

  a person who is not a Jew

gentile

American  

[jen-tahyl] / ˈdʒɛn taɪl /

adjective

(sometimes initial capital letter)

1. of or relating to any people not Jewish.

2. Christian, as distinguished from Jewish.

3. Mormon Church. not Mormon.

4. heathen or pagan.

5. (of a linguistic expression) expressing nationality or local origins.

6. of or relating to a tribe, clan, people, nation, etc.

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noun

gentiles plural

1. a person who is not Jewish, especially a Christian.

2. (among Mormons) a person who is not a Mormon.

3. a heathen or pagan.

Gentile ¹ British  

/ ˈdʒɛntaɪl /

noun

1. a person who is not a Jew

2. a Christian, as contrasted with a Jew

3. a person who is not a member of one's own church: used esp by Mormons

4. a heathen or pagan

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adjective

1. of or relating to a race or religion that is not Jewish

2. Christian, as contrasted with Jewish

3. not being a member of one's own church: used esp by Mormons

4. pagan or heathen

Gentile ² British  

/ dʒenˈtiːle /

noun

1. Giovanni (dʒoˈvanni). 1875–1944, Italian Idealist philosopher and Fascist politician: minister of education (1922–24)

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gentile ³ British  

/ ˈdʒɛntaɪl /

adjective

1. denoting an adjective or proper noun used to designate a place or the inhabitants of a place, as Spanish and Spaniard

2. of or relating to a tribe or people

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Gentile Cultural  

1. Someone who is not a Jew (see also Jews). “The nations” is the common expression in the Old Testament for non-Jews as a group, and a Gentile is a person belonging to “the nations.”

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Discover More

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament tell of numerous conflicts between Jews and Gentiles. Figuratively, a “gentile” is any nonbeliever.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nongentile
  adjective
• pro-Gentile
  adjective
• ungentile
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gentiles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gentile

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin gentīlis, from gent-, stem of gēns gens + -īlis -ile

Explanation

Use the word gentile to mean non-Jewish, like the gentile friend you invite to your family's Passover Seder because she's curious about Jewish religious traditions. When Gentile is a noun, it's usually capitalized, and it's most frequently used to contrast a Christian with a Jew. There are other religions that use the word gentile to describe a non-believer, including Mormonism and Hinduism. More generally, gentile refers to a person who doesn't acknowledge a particular god or belief. The root is the Latin gentilis, whose meaning of "fellow countryman or family member" changed over time to mean "foreign, heathen, pagan."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gentile Gentile gentiles

Jesenská, a gentile, was a Czechoslovak citizen living in Vienna, and when she received Kafka’s permission to translate him into Czech the two began a passionate correspondence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

Creator-showrunner Erin Foster can’t imagine her Netflix rom-com about a progressive rabbi and a gentile sex podcaster set anywhere but her native Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2025

Now, because it occurs around the biggest holiday here for our gentile friends, we make a much bigger deal out of it.

From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2023

“We reaffirm that Jew and gentile, we are one nation under God; that black and white, we are one nation indivisible; that Republican and Democrat, we are all Americans,” he said.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 3, 2023

But it was hard for me to see Charles as a gentile.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Marc Maurer and Laura Gentile will join Lululemon’s board, despite the company previously attacking their credentials.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

Wilson’s picks for Lululemon’s board are Marc Maurer, former co-CEO of running-shoe maker On Holding, Laura Gentile, former chief marketing officer at ESPN, and Eric Hirshberg, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard’s Activision segment.

From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026

"People who don't ski come and ruin the environment, nature and the concept of sport here," said Kikka Misso Gentile, a 41-year-old from Naples who has a holiday home in nearby Rivisondoli.

From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026

In November, Trump pardoned David Gentile 12 days into a seven-year sentence after conviction for a private-equity Ponzi scheme External link that cost more than 17,000 people a total of $1 billion.

From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026

“No, it doesn’t sound quite right. Eusebius Gentile Mossel.”

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

He removed the armband identifying him as a Jew and lined up before dawn with the gentiles to seek bread.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

Moreover, their devotion paid off materially; after converting to Catholicism in mass baptisms, Frank’s followers take on Polish names and prosper as gentiles, with several even entering the nobility.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2022

Ira Ringold in "I Married a Communist" is nothing like any of the white gentiles we just encountered, nor like any of the Jews we shall meet below.

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2021

The reality, more often, was to be regarded as a Jew among gentiles and a gentile among Jews.

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2018

I understood now: I could stand with my family, or with the gentiles, on the one side or the other, but there was no foothold in between.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Related Words

• agnostic