gens

gens
a) A legally defined unit of Roman society closest in meaning to and translated by English clan, but not identical to it. The gens was a collection of families whose members were related by birth, marriage or adoption. All the families were considered to have descended from a common clan ancestor although in cases where the time from the ancestor to the contemporary time was great the kinship was more remote than is meant by the English term "related." In such cases the legal definition still prevailed.

The taboos, the laws, the rules of genses, tribes, and nations, from the lowest to the highest, are upheld by a vague terror and sacred awe which society impresses on man by threats of ill-luck, fearful evil, and terrible punishments befalling sinners and transgressors of the tabooed, of the holy and the forbidden, charged with a mysterious, highly contagious, and virulently infective life-consuming energy.

b) a tribal subgroup whose members are characterized by having the same descent, usually along the male line

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  • gens — 1. (jan ; l s se lie : des jan z aimables ; quelques personnes font sentir l s : des jans ; mais c est une mauvaise prononciation) s. pl. 1°   Nom collectif signifiant en général un certain nombre de personnes ; dans ce sens, gens est, suivant l… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • gens — Gens. Personnes. En cette signification il n a point de singulier. Il est masculin quand l adjectif le suit, & feminin quand il le precede. Voilà des gens bien fins, ce sont de fines gens. ce sont des gens fort dangereux, de fort dangereuses gens …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • GENS — (émulateur) Gens …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gens — Gens …   Википедия

  • Gens — (j[e^]nz), n.; pl. {Gentes} (j[e^]n t[=e]z). [L. See {Gentle}, a.] (Rom. Hist.) 1. A clan or family connection, embracing several families of the same stock, who had a common name and certain common religious rites; a subdivision of the Roman… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Gens — Gens, 1) (röm. Ant.), Stamm, Geschlecht; begriff die einen gemeinschaftlichen Geschlechtsnamen (Nomen) führenden Personen (Gentīles). Die Gentilen waren entweder vollberechtigte od. untergeordnete, wie Clienten u. Freigelassene, welche nur… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • gens — gèns s.f.inv., lat. TS stor. in Roma antica, gruppo di famiglie appartenenti a un unico ceppo {{line}} {{/line}} ETIMO: lat. gens, cfr. gignĕre generare …   Dizionario italiano

  • Gens — die; , G’entes [...te:s] <aus lat. gens, Gen. gentis »Geschlechtsverband, Sippe«> altröm. Familienverband …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

  • gens — 1847, in reference to ancient Rome, tribe, clan, house (of families having a name and certain religious rites in common and a presumed common origin), from L. gens (gen. gentis) race, clan, nation (see GENUS (Cf. genus)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • gens — gȅns m DEFINICIJA 1. pov. u antičkom Rimu zajednica više obitelji povezanih imenom, podrijetlom, tradicijom i kulturom 2. sociol. prvobitan oblik društveno ekonomske organizacije u primitivnoj zajednici, temelji se na krvnom srodstvu i… …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Gens [1] — Gens (lat.), die Genossenschaft derer, die durch gemeinsame Abstammung miteinander verbunden sind. Zu Rom bildeten die Gentes die Unterabteilungen der Kurien und den eigentlichen Stamm des römischen Volkes; an sie, die Patres oder Patricii,… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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