A
gentlewoman (from the
Latin gentilis, belonging to a
gens, and
English 'woman') in the original and strict sense is a woman of good
family, analogous to the Latin
generosus and
generosa. The closely related English word "
gentry" derives from the
Old French genterise,
gentelise, with much of the meaning of the
French noblesse and the
German Adelheit, but without the strict technical requirements of those traditions, such as
quarters of nobility.