'gennet' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'genet', which in turn was borrowed from Spanish 'jinete' (originally referring to a light horseman).

'gennet' changed from Old French 'genet', which came from Spanish 'jinete' (from the name of the Berber tribe 'Zenata'), and was adopted into Middle English as 'gennet' to denote a small riding-horse.

Initially, related words referred to a 'light horseman' or cavalryman, but over time the English term shifted to mean the small riding-horse (a palfrey) associated with such riders.