Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Gens

Gens (jenz) , noun

[L. See Gentle, a.]

1.
(Rom. Hist.) A clan or family connection, embracing several families of the same stock, who had a common name and certain common religious rites; a subdivision of the Roman curia or tribe.
2.
(Ethnology) A minor subdivision of a tribe, among American aborigines. It includes those who have a common descent, and bear the same totem.