gentle
- Soft, calm, and careful so as not to hurt or upset anyone or anything.
- Mild and not extreme, as in gentle weather or a gentle slope.
In a sentence
- Be gentle with the baby bird — its wings are very fragile.
- A gentle breeze rustled the leaves in the park on that warm afternoon.
Usage note. 'Gentle' often collocates with 'touch,' 'reminder,' and 'giant'; do not confuse with 'genteel,' which specifically means refined or polite in manners.
Where it comes from
English gentle · entered English 13th c.
From Old French 'gentil,' meaning 'noble or well-born,' which came from Latin 'gentilis,' meaning 'belonging to the same family or clan,' from 'gens' (family, clan). It entered English in the 13th century, and its meaning gradually softened from 'noble' to 'kind and mild.'