gens

  1. (abbreviation) .  generations.
  2. Noun.  A legally defined unit of Roman society closest in meaning to and translated by English clan, but not identical to it. The gens was a collection of families whose members were related by birth, marriage or adoption. All the families were considered to have descended from a common clan ancestor although in cases where the time from the ancestor to the contemporary time was great the kinship was more remote than is meant by the English term "related." In such cases the legal definition still prevailed.
  3. Noun.  (anthropology) a tribal subgroup whose members are characterized by having the same descent, usually along the male line.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.