gentle_,
and _genteel_. Yet the Latin word had not the same meaning as any of
these words. _Gentilis_ meant "belonging to the same _gens_ or
'clan.'" It became later a distinguishing term from _Jew_. All who
were not Jews were _Gentiles_, and this is still the meaning of the
word _gentile_ in English. It came directly from the Latin. But
_gentilis_ became _gentil_ in French; and we have borrowed twice from
this word, getting _gentle_, which expresses one idea contained in the
French word, though the French word means more than our word _gentle_.
It has the sense of "very amiable and attractive." The last word of
the three, _genteel_, is rather a vulgar word. It means "like
gentlemen and ladies have to do," and only rather ignorant people use
the word seriously.

Doublets from Latin words for the most part resemble each other in
meaning and form, though, as we have seen, this is not always the
case. We could give a long list of examples where both sense and form
are similar, but there is only space to mention a few. _Poor_ and
_pauper_ (a miserably poor person) both come from the Latin _pauper_,
"poor." _Story_ and _history_ both come from _historia_, a word which
had both meanings in Latin. _Human_ and _humane_ are both from the
Latin _humanus_, "belonging to mankind." _Sure_ and _secure_ are both
from the Latin _securus_, "safe." _Nourishment_ and _nutriment_ are
both from the Latin _nutrimentum_. _Amiable_ and _amicable_ are both
from the Latin _amicabilis_, "friendly."

Examples of doublets which are similar in form but not in sense are
_chant_ and _cant_, which both come from the Latin _cantare_, "to
sing." _Chant_ has the original idea, being a form of singing,
especially in church; but _cant_ has wandered far from the original
sense, meaning insincere words, especially such as are used by people
pretending to be religious or pious. The word _cant_ was first used
in describing the chanting or whining of beggars, who were supposed
often to be telling lies; and from this it got its present use, which
has nothing to do with singing.

_Blame_ and _blaspheme_, both coming from the Latin _blasphemare_,
itself taken from a Hebrew word, are not, perhaps, quite so different
in sense; but _blame_ means merely to find fault with a person, while
_blaspheme_ means to speak against God.

_Chance_ and _cadence_ both come from the Latin _cadere_, "to fall,"
but have very little resemblance in meaning. _Chance_ is what happens