We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more

Subscriber login

Library card login

Other

Login Athens/Access Management Federation

X Close menu

Dictionary Language resources

gentile

Syllabification: (gen·tile)

Pronunciation: /ˈjentīl/

Definition of gentile

adjective

1 (Gentile) not Jewish:Christianity spread from Jewish into Gentile cultures
(of a person) not belonging to one’s own religious community.
(in the Mormon church) non-Mormon.

2chiefly Anthropology of, relating to, or indicating a nation or clan, especially a gens.

noun

(Gentile)

a person who is not Jewish.

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin gentilis 'of a family or nation, of the same clan' (used in the Vulgate to refer to non-Jews), from gens, gent- 'family, race', from the root of gignere 'beget'