gentlemen
- 1Plural of gentleman.
Several gentlemen gathered near the fireplace to discuss the upcoming election.
The committee thanked the two gentlemen for their generous donation.
Note
The plural changes its vowel instead of adding -s, following man and men, so there is no form gentlemans. It also does polite work as a form of address, as when a speaker opens with "Gentlemen." The possessive is built on this plural, gentlemen's, and that possessive is the source of the word for a men's lavatory.
- 2Alternative form of gentlemen's: a men's room, a restroom intended for use by men.
The two doors at the end of the hall read Ladies and Gentlemen.
A brass plaque marked Gentlemen hung on the restroom door.
Note
A polite euphemism that names the users instead of the room, with the possessive dropped: gentlemen's becomes plain gentlemen. It takes "the" the way a place does, and it is often capitalized like the sign on the door, as in Henry Green's Living (1929). Joyce Cary's Herself Surprised (1941) pairs it with its counterpart in "a ladies and gentlemen."
gentlemen is a form of gentleman
gentleman, noun: Any man, used as a courteous or polite term of reference. Full entry
- Forms
- gentlemangentlemen plural
- Spelling
- gentleman → gentlemen: irregular plural (no -s)
Practice
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