The definition of an adjective is a part of speech that is used to describe a noun. Red, tall, better and fast are all examples of adjectives.
In modern parlance, a gentleman (from gentle + man, translating the Old French gentilz hom) is any man of good, courteous conduct. A gentleman may also simply be a polite term for any man, as in indications of gender-separated facilities, or as a sign of the speaker's own courtesy when addressing others. The modern female equivalent is lady.
The gentlemen settlers were all men who could afford and bought shares in the Virginia Company while still in London. A gentleman might hire laborers to work for him or pay the passage of others in hopes of building an estate in the New World.