gentilesse

[ jen-tl-es, jen-tl-es ]

/ ˈdʒɛn tlˌɛs, ˌdʒɛn tlˈɛs /

noun

the quality of being gentle.

Nearby words

Origin of gentilesse

1300–50; Middle English < Middle French gentillesse, equivalent to gentil (see genteel, gentle) + -esse noun suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gentilesse

See remarks (in the notes) on Chaucer's Balade of Gentilesse.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 2 (of 7)|Geoffrey Chaucer
To which add, as a twenty-third, the three stanzas on Gentilesse quoted in Scogan's poem (no. 33).
Chaucer's Works, Volume 5 (of 7) -- Notes to the Canterbury Tales|Geoffrey Chaucer
For it seme at gentilesse be a maner preysynge at come of decert of auncestres.
Chaucer's Translation of Boethius's 'De Consolatione Philosophiae'|Geoffrey Chaucer
The first line means—'With regard to, or As to the first stock (or source), who was the father of gentilesse.'
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems|Geoffrey Chaucer

For if e name of gentilesse be referred to renoun and clernesse of linage.
Chaucer's Translation of Boethius's 'De Consolatione Philosophiae'|Geoffrey Chaucer

British Dictionary definitions for gentilesse

gentilesse

/ (ˈdʒɛntəˌlɛs) /

noun

archaic politeness or good breeding

Word Origin for gentilesse

C14: from Old French gentillesse; see genteel

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012