Gentle

(jĕn’tl), a. [compar. GENTLER; superl. GENTLEST.] [Lat. gentilis. See GENTEEL.] 1. Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble. The studies wherein our noble and gentle youth ought to bestow their time. Milton.

2. Soft and refined in manners; not rough, harsh, or severe; mild; meek; bland; as, a gentle nature, temper, or disposition; a gentle manner; a gentle address; a gentle voice.
3. Not wild, turbulent, or refractory; quiet and docile; tame; peaceable; as, a gentle horse.
4. Soft; soothing; pacific. “Gentle music.” Davies.

O sleep, it is a gentle thing. Coleridge. The gentle craft, the art or trade of shoemaking. [Obs.] Syn.—Mild; meek; placid; dove-like; quiet; peaceful; pacific; bland; soft; tame; tractable; docile.—GENTLE, TAME, MILD, MEEK. Gentle describes the natural disposition; tame, that which is subdued by training; mild implies a temper which is, by nature, not easily provoked; meek, a spirit which has been schooled to mildness by discipline or suffering. The lamb is gentle; the domestic fowl is tame; John, the apostle, was mild; Moses was meek. Her voice was ever soft, Gentle, and low,—an excellent thing in woman. Shak. A most poor man made tame to Fortune’s blows. Shak. If that mild and gentle God thou be, Who dost mankind below with pity see. Dryden. With their sighs the air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite in sigh Of sorrow unfeigned, and humiliation meek. Milton.

n. 1. One well-born; a gentleman. [Obs.] “Gentles, methinks you frown.” Shak.

2. A maggot or larve; especially applied to the larves of some flies used as bait for fish.
3. A trained hawk; a falcon-gentle.