Gentleness

[jen-tl] /ˈdʒɛn tl/

adjective, gentler, gentlest.
1.
kindly; amiable:
a gentle manner.
2.
not severe, rough, or violent; mild:
a gentle wind; a gentle tap on the shoulder.
3.
moderate:
gentle heat.
4.
gradual:
a gentle slope.
5.
of good birth or family; wellborn.
6.
characteristic of good birth; honorable; respectable:
a gentle upbringing.
7.
easily handled or managed; tractable:
a gentle animal.
8.
soft or low:
a gentle sound.
9.
polite; refined:
Consider, gentle reader, my terrible predicament at this juncture.
10.
entitled to a coat of arms; armigerous.
11.
Archaic. noble; chivalrous:
a gentle knight.
verb (used with object), gentled, gentling.
12.
to tame; render tractable.
13.
to mollify; calm; pacify.
14.
to make gentle.
15.
to stroke; soothe by petting.
16.
to ennoble; dignify.
/ˈdʒɛntəlnɪs/
noun
1.
the quality of being gentle
2.
(physics) a property of elementary particles, conserved in certain strong interactions See also charm1 (sense 7)
/ˈdʒɛntəl/
adjective
1.
having a mild or kindly nature or character
2.
soft or temperate; mild; moderate: a gentle scolding
3.
gradual: a gentle slope
4.
easily controlled; tame: a gentle horse
5.
(archaic) of good breeding; noble: gentle blood
6.
(archaic) gallant; chivalrous
verb (transitive)
7.
to tame or subdue (a horse)
8.
to appease or mollify
9.
(obsolete) to ennoble or dignify
noun
10.
a maggot, esp when used as bait in fishing
11.
(archaic) a person who is of good breeding
n.

c.1300, “inherited nature,” from gentle + -ness. Meaning “freedom from harshness and violence” is from 1610s.
adj.

early 13c., “well-born,” from Old French gentil “high-born, noble, of good family” (11c., in Modern French “nice, graceful, pleasing; fine pretty”), from Latin gentilis “of the same family or clan,” from gens (genitive gentis) “race, clan,” from root of gignere “beget,” from PIE root *gen- “produce” (see genus). Sense of “gracious, kind” (now obsolete) first recorded late 13c.; that of “mild, tender” is 1550s. Older sense remains in gentleman.