# gens

> English word · Noun · IPA /d͡ʒɛnz/ · frequency rank #33,659

## Definitions
1. A legally defined unit of Roman society, being a collection of people related through a common ancestor by birth, marriage or adoption, possibly over many generations, and sharing the same nomen gentilicium.
2. A tribal subgroup whose members are characterized by having the same descent, usually along the male line; clan.
3. A host-specific lineage of a brood parasite species.^([W])

## Etymology
Borrowed from Latin gēns (“gens; people, tribe”), from Proto-Italic *gentis, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁tis (“birth; production”), from *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”) + *-tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verb roots). Doublet of kind, genesis, and jati. See also gender, generate, gentile, genus; also Latin gigno (“I bring forth”).

## Easily confused with
- **GS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gs)
- **get** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-get)
- **gun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gun)
- **GPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gps)
- **gin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gin)
- **Gus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gus)
- **ger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-ger)
- **GNU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gnu)
- **gms** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gms)
- **GTS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gts)
- **GYN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gyn)
- **gnc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gnc)
- **guys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-guys)
- **gets** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gets)
- **goes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-goes)
- **gone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gone)
- **guns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-guns)
- **gods** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-gods)
- **glen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-glen)
- **guts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gens-vs-guts)

## Common misspellings (6)
`egns`, `genns`, `genss`, `gesn`, `ggens`, `gnes`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gens