Adjective

(en adjective)

Having a highly developed society or culture.

Showing evidence of moral and intellectual advancement; humane, reasonable, ethical.

Marked by refinement in taste and manners.

*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=5 citation , passage=A waiter brought his aperitif, which was a small scotch and soda, and as he sipped it gratefully he sighed.
   ‘Civilized ,’ he said to Mr. Campion. ‘Humanizing.’ […] ‘Cigars and summer days and women in big hats with swansdown face-powder, that's what it reminds me of.’}}

Adjective

(er)

Tender and amiable; of a considerate or kindly disposition.

Soft and mild rather than hard or severe.

*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)

, title=(The China Governess) , chapter=3 citation , passage=Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.}}

Docile and easily managed.

a gentle horse

Gradual rather than steep or sudden.

Polite and respectful rather than rude.

(archaic) Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.

* Johnson's Cyc.

British society is divided into nobility, gentry, and yeomanry, and families are either noble, gentle , or simple.

* Milton

the studies wherein our noble and gentle youth ought to bestow their time