gens

noun

ˈjenz

ˈgen(t)s

plural gentes ˈjen-ˌtēz

ˈgen-ˌtās

: a Roman clan embracing the families of the same stock in the male line with the members having a common name and worshipping a common ancestor

: clan

especially : a patrilineal clan

: a distinguishable group of related organisms

Examples of gens in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Otherwise, expect to land somewhere between $20,000 and $75,000, with lower-mileage second-gens toward the high end of that range. —

James Tate, Car and Driver, 30 Dec. 2022 In fact, the elite patrician gens Claudia even had paternal Sabine ancestry. —

Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 6 Feb. 2013 Plus; iPhone X; iPad 5; iPad 6; iPad 7; iPad Pro (1st and 2nd gens). —

José Adorno, BGR, 15 Dec. 2022 Social media forums are giving now-young-adult first-gens the opportunity to celebrate their culture and become the faces of the trends their ancestors started. —

Sakshi Venkatraman, NBC News, 8 Dec. 2022 Next-gens tend to integrate philanthropy into all aspects of their lives. —

Shelley Hoss, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2021

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin gent-, gens literally, "group of the same ancestry, people, nation," going back to Indo-European *ǵenh₁-ti- "offspring," derivative of *ǵenh₁- "engender, be born" — more at kin entry 1

Note: The loss of the reflex of the laryngeal in gent-, gens, as opposed to genitor "father, creator" (see progenitor) presumably suggests that the word is a relatively recent formation, as observed already by A. Ernout and A. Meillet (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine, 4. édition, 1979). Compare Latin nātiō "birth, race, nationality" (see nation), from *ǵn̥h₁-ti-, an alternative zero-grade derivative with the suffix *-ti-.