gentilesse

American  

[jen-tl-es, jen-tl-es] / ˈdʒɛn tlˌɛs, ˌdʒɛn tlˈɛs /

noun

1. the quality of being gentle.

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gentilesse British  

/ ˈdʒɛntəˌlɛs /

noun

1. archaic politeness or good breeding

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Etymology

Origin of gentilesse

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

Example Sentences

It’s for grammatical consistency, not beauty or gentilesse, for example, that correct English has us say “It was he” instead of “It was him.”

From The New Yorker • Nov. 3, 2014

Thou hast drawn all the thread out of my shift with thy gentilesse; thou hast tickled my heart with thy rebeck.

From The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Payne, John

So wot I nothing after kinde Where I mai gentilesse finde.

From Confessio Amantis, or, Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins by Macaulay, G. C. (George Campbell)

Dear heart, thought I, but where were their eyes, both twain, that they saw not the lovesomeness and gentilesse of that my gallant Protection?

From Joyce Morrell's Harvest The Annals of Selwick Hall by Holt, Emily Sarah

This poet is fond of introducing old French words "to make his English sweet upon his tongue"; accueillade, valiantise, faineant, allegresse, gentilesse, forte et dure, and occasionally a phrase like dieu vous doint felicité.

From A History of English Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century by Beers, Henry A. (Henry Augustin)