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

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

• nongentile adjective
• pro-Gentile adjective
• ungentile adjective

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

A rabbi and a gentile who fall in love?

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 28, 2024

“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

Already aware that, being the daughter of a Jewish father and gentile mother, I was myself a demi-semite, I was worried.

From Salon • Jun. 27, 2023

Alexander, or Sandy, a lawyer and Midwesterner who shed his gentile background, is despondent, near-suicidal over his failing marriage and “the full catastrophe” of recent history.

From Washington Post • Mar. 30, 2023

He also made arrangements with his gentile friend Wojek to sell a few of his fine suits on the black market.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

Related Words

• agnostic