gentleman

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A man of gentle or noble birth or superior social position: "He's too much a gentleman to be a scholar” ( Aphra Behn).
2. n. A well-mannered and considerate man with high standards of proper behavior. See Usage Note at lady.
3. n. A man of independent means who does not need to have a wage-paying job.
4. n. A man: Do you know this gentleman?
5. n. Used as a form of address for a group of men.
6. n. A manservant; a valet.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A man of good family; a man of good or gentle birth; in England, specifically, any man above the social rank of yeoman, including noblemen; in a more limited sense, a man who without a title bears a coat of arms, or whose ancestors have been freemen; one of the class holding a middle rank between the nobility and yeomanry.
2. n. In a loose sense, any man whose breeding, education, occupation, or income raises him above menial service or an ordinary trade.
3. n. A man of good breeding, courtesy, and kindness; hence, a man distinguished for fine sense of honor, strict regard for his obligations, and consideration for the rights and feelings of others.
4. n. As a polite form of speech, a man in general; any man, but particularly, where discrimination is used, any man of respectable appearance or good manners; in the plural, a form of address to a company of men, or to all the men in an audience: as, welcome, gentlemen; ladies and gentlemen. This use of gentleman for man, to the neglect of gradation, like that of lady for woman, is often carried to excess, and is to be avoided except where required by the unquestioned rules of politeness. See lady.
5. n. The body-servant or personal attendant of a man of rank.
6. n. An apparatus used in soldering circular pewter ware. It is a revolving pedestal, adjustable by a side-screw to any height.
7. n. [Perhaps an adaptation of another name of the same bird, Jan van Gent.] The white gannet or solan goose, Sula bassana.
8. n. An invalid or disabled soldier who made his living by begging.

Wiktionary

1. n. A man of breeding or higher class.
2. n. A polite term referring to a man.
3. n. A polite form of address to a group of men.
4. n. Toilets intended for use by men.
5. n. Amateur.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A man well born; one of good family; one above the condition of a yeoman.
2. n. One of gentle or refined manners; a well-bred man.
3. n. One who bears arms, but has no title.
4. n. The servant of a man of rank.
5. n. A man, irrespective of condition; -- used esp. in the plural (= citizens; people), in addressing men in popular assemblies, etc.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer
2. n. a man of refinement