genteel
jen-TEEL · adjective
Origin
Borrowed from French gentil ("gentile"), which came from Latin gentīlis, meaning "of or belonging to the same people or nation." That word traces back to Latin gēns, meaning "clan, tribe, people, family."
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Journey
It entered English through French as gentil and settled into its current spelling and meaning as "genteel."
Related words
It's a doublet of gentle, gentile, and jaunty — all four words descend from the same Latin root but arrived in English by different paths.