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Glite Dictionary
gens

gens

1 9.9
A family group in ancient Rome that shared one name and claim they come from one male ancestor
  • noun
  • /dʒɛnz/
  • Specialized
translation icon : gens
  • Bought her in late 2009, one of the first Third Gens on the road, so I can't really justify getting rid of her just yet.

So the gens of Caesar himself, right.

Examples

  • 3) Why were Gens Ham and Gauotte replaced?

    Blog text (13)

  • So the gens of Caesar himself, right.

    Danny Jones

  • Then he was executive officer to Gens. Dan K. McNeill and Charles C. Campbell, the commanding generals of Forces Command, then in Atlanta.

    Blog text (14)

  • Instead, small and informal bands of fighters based on the Roman gentes, or clans, were commanded by their clan leaders.

  • Each curia was formed from a number of families or gentes, and ten of these curiae formed a tribe or tribus and Co.

  • The saddest days in this country's history are when Gen. Lee and later on Gens. Johnston and Forrest were forced to surrender against overwhelming odds.

    Blog text (4)

  • Vattel's Droit des Gens, first published in the mid-eighteenth century, was the principal authority on international law at the time of the American founding and was certainly much respected by the American Founders.

    Academic text (2003)

  • What was the meaning of gens in the Anglo-Saxon charters? Gens represented people who were under the king's dominion, e.g., res gentis Anglorum.

    Blog text (20)

  • He obtained a partial translation of Emer de Vattel's 1758 Le Droit des Gens ("The Law of Nations)

    Academic text (1993)

  • The Roman gens of the Julii was known for its powerful political influence.

Synonyms

bloodline
vsgens
57 4.8

A family line of people or animals related by birth

is about social clan membership through a named male ancestor rather than genetics
lineage
vsgens
46 5.5

A list of family members who came before you

is focused on male-line clan identity and shared family name
family line
vsgens
5 3.2

A group of people who are related by birth over many generations

is specifically about male descent and a shared clan name
agnation
vsgens
  • Specialized
9.9

A family line traced only through the male side

is a named clan grouping people who claim descent from a single male ancestor
patrilineage
vsgens
  • Specialized
9.9

A family line that follows male ancestors on the father's side

is a clan organization sharing a name, not just a line of descent

Surface Forms

gens singular
gentes plural

Etymology

Gens was a Roman word for a clan or 'family' whose members all shared the same name and said they came from one male ancestor. A helpful way to remember it is to think of familiar words like gene and generation, which are about family and birth, so gens means a group of people connected by birth and name.