English → Latin
“gentle” in Latin
ingenuusnatural, indigenous; free-born, freeborn, of free birth; noble, upright, frank, candid, ingenuouslīberālisfreedom; dignified, honorable, befitting a freedman; generous, liberal, bountiful, amplegenerōsuswell-born, well-bred, noble; superior, excellent; generous, magnanimousmītismild, mellow, mature, ripe; sweet, juicy, succulent; light, fruitful, mellow.; calm, gentle, placidlēnissoft, smooth, gentle, moderate, mild, calm; gradualmollissoft, delicate to the touch; pliant, flexible, supple; mild, tenderplacidusPlacid, gentle, quiet, still, calm, mild, peaceful, tranquil; Ripe, mellow; Not wild, fruitful, suitable for cultivationplācōto appease; to placate, pacify, assuage, soothe, calm, quiet; to reconcilelevislight, not heavy; easy to digest; quick, swift, fleet, nimble, rapidmānsuēscōto tame, render mild, gentle, or peaceable; to become or grow tame, gentle, mild, soft
The English word gentle itself goes back to Latin gēns, through gentilis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
gentle
Of good birth, ingenuus: liberalis: honesto loco natus: generosus (is stronger; of high, noble birth).
Mild, meek, mitis (mild; opposed to acerbus, durus; e.g., in aliquem, toward anybody; of character, affections, etc.; also, poetically, of breezes): lenis (gentle; opposed to vehemens, asper, of persons, character, words; also of winds, Cic.; and sleep, Hor.; toward anybody, in aliquem). (The words are found in this connection and order.) lenis et facilis (of a person’s character): mollis (soft; of breezes, words, etc.): placidus (calm; opposed to turbidus, of persons, of sleep †, etc.). (The words are found in this connection and order.) placidus mollisque (of a person; e.g., reddere aliquem); placidus quietusque: placatus (toward anybody, in aliquem, especially after differences have existed between them; opposed to infestus). (The words are found in this connection and order.) quietus et placatus, mitis et placatus: levis (light; of touch, tactus, Ov.): mansuetus (PROP., tame, of animals; then gentle, etc., of persons). (The words are found in this connection and order.) lenis (or mitis) et mansuetus. The gentle Muses, Musae mansuetae: a gentle sleep, lenis or placidus somnus. To make anybody as gentle as a lamb, aliquem tarn placidum, quam ovem, reddere (Cic., Caecin., 10): a gentle reproof, castigatio clemens: to administer a gentle reproof to anybody, molli brachio objurgare aliquem (so as to spare him a more severe one, Cic., Att., 2, 1) :
Gentle (of ascent, etc.), leniter editus; molliter assurgens; leniter or placide acclivis. Vid: GRADUAL.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for gentle?
- The usual Latin words for “gentle” are ingenuus, līberālis, generōsus; also mītis, lēnis, mollis. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.