gens
Ancient Roman clan
A gens is a clan or group of families in ancient Rome who shared a common name and claimed descent from a common ancestor.
The word appears mainly in historical and anthropological contexts.
Plural: gentes.
The related term "gentile" originally meant someone belonging to a gens.
Family line of descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
- progenitorsOriginal ancestors of a lineage
forebears · descendants · offspring · patriarch · matriarch · patrilineal · matrilineal · forefather
Social group sharing ancestry
- houseResidential building
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- kinshipState of being related
- nobilityTitled ruling class
aristocracy · caste · patrimony · patriarchy · matriarchy · chieftain · totem · moiety
Sovereign political entity
- ethnicityShared cultural heritage group
- nationalityLegal belonging to country
- populationAll inhabitants combined
- inhabitantsPermanent occupants of place
natives · settlers · immigrants · diaspora · multiculturalism · community · society · demographics
ancestry
Family line of descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- heredityGenetic trait transmission
progenitors · forebears · descendants · offspring · patriarch · matriarch · patrilineal · matrilineal · forefather · foremother
tribe
Social group sharing ancestry
nobility · aristocracy · caste · patrimony · patriarchy · matriarchy · chieftain · totem · moiety · exogamy
nation
Sovereign political entity
- ethnicityShared cultural heritage group
- nationalityLegal belonging to country
- populationAll inhabitants combined
inhabitants · natives · settlers · immigrants · diaspora · multiculturalism · community · society · demographics · citizenship
- in generalConsidering most cases
- ladies and gentlemenFormal crowd address
- Gene Hackman
- be gentleAct with care
- general managerOverall operations supervisor
- director generalHighest-ranking organizational leader
gentle, general, gentleman, generation, generic, generate, generator, genetic, indigenous