Webster
✕

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Gentile

Gen′tile (jĕn′tīl), n. [L. gentilis belonging to the same clan, stock, race, people, or nation; in opposition to Roman, a foreigner; in opposition to Jew or Christian, a heathen: cf. F. gentil. See Gentle, a.] One of a non-Jewish nation; one neither a Jew nor a Christian; a worshiper of false gods; a heathen.

☞ The Hebrews included in the term gōyim, or nations, all the tribes of men who had not received the true faith, and were not circumcised. The Christians translated gōyim by the L. gentes, and imitated the Jews in giving the name gentiles to all nations who were neither Jews nor Christians. In civil affairs, the denomination was given to all nations who were not Romans.

Syn. — Pagan; heathen. See Pagan.

Gen′tile, a. 1. Belonging to the nations at large, as distinguished from the Jews; ethnic; of pagan or heathen people.

2. (Gram.) Denoting a race or country; as, a gentile noun or adjective.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.