Generous (M. for M. iv. 6, Oth. iii. 3), noble-minded, generosus.
Gentle, noble, of good birth (gentilis); thence, brave, gallant, worthy; and finally, courteous, kind, mild, sweet-tempered,—such qualities being most usually found among the well-born. This last sense is the least usual in the dramatists.
Gentry (Ham. ii. 2), courtesy, good manners.
Gig (L. L. L. iv. 3), a whipping-top.
Giglot (M. for M. v. 1, 1 H. VI. v. 1, Cymb. iii. 1), a female wanton. It is perhaps connected with giggle.
Gillian, the English form of Juliana, a name so common in former times that Jack and Jill was a usual phrase to denote two persons of the opposite sexes. St. Juliana was a Florentine, who was not canonized till 1729, so that the name could hardly have come from her. In Ireland Julia (in Irish Sheelah—Sila) is a common name among the peasantry. There was a Saint Julia, virgin martyr, who was put to death in the fifth century.
Gillyvor (W. T. iv. 3), of which gillyflower is a corruption, is the flower named caryophyllum, whence is formed the French giroflée.
Gongorian (M. W. i. 3), supposed to be a corruption of Hungarian; but that is uncertain.
Good-night (2 H. IV. iii. 2), like Fancy, a kind of song or ballad. Thus there was Johnny Armstrong's Good Night.
Good year (Much Ado, i. 3, 2 H. IV. ii. 4), a more delicate form of gougère, the French disease.