noble
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English
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French noble, from Latin nōbilis (“knowable, known, well-known, famous, celebrated, high-born, of noble birth, excellent”), from nōscere, gnōscere (“to know”).
False cognate of Arabic نبيل (nabīl). Displaced native Middle English athel, from Old English æþele.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈnəʊbəl/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈnoʊbəl/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -əʊbəl
- Hyphenation: no‧ble
Noun
noble (plural nobles)
- An aristocrat; one of aristocratic blood.
- (historical) A medieval gold coin of England in the 14th and 15th centuries, usually valued at 6s 8d.
- 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:
- I lyked no thynge his playe, / For yf I had not quyckely fledde the touche, / He had plucte oute the nobles of my pouche.
- 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica:
- And who shall then stick closest to ye, and excite others? not he who takes up armes for cote and conduct, and his four nobles of Danegelt.
- 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 93:
- There, before the high altar, as the choir's voices soared upwards to the blue, star-flecked ceiling, Henry knelt and made his offering of a ‘noble in gold’, 6s 8d.
Hyponyms
- See also Thesaurus:nobleman
Derived terms
Translations
aristocrat
|
medieval gold coin
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Adjective
noble (comparative nobler or more noble, superlative noblest or most noble)
- Having honorable qualities; having moral eminence and freedom from anything petty, mean or dubious in conduct and character.
- Synonyms: great, honorable
- Antonyms: despicable, ignoble, mean, vile
- He made a noble effort.
- He is a noble man who would never put his family in jeopardy.
- 1997, 1:44:10 from the start, in The Fifth Element (Science Fiction / Action), →ISBN, →OCLC:
- Korben, I realize you must be pretty mad at me. But I want you to know that I am fighting for a noble cause. / Yes, you're trying to save the world. I remember.
- Grand; stately; magnificent; splendid.
- a noble edifice
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […] , the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
- Of exalted rank; of or relating to the nobility; distinguished from the masses by birth, station, or title; highborn.
- (winemaking) Belonging to a class of grape cultivars traditionally considered most favorable for winemaking, usually encompassing the six: Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, and Riesling.
- (geometry, of a polyhedron) Both isohedral and isogonal.
Derived terms
Translations
having honorable qualities
|
of or relating to the nobility; distinguished from the masses by birth
|
grand, magnificent, splendid
See also
Further reading
- “noble”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “noble”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “noble”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Asturian
Adjective
noble (epicene, plural nobles)
Catalan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
noble m or f (masculine and feminine plural nobles)
Derived terms
Noun
noble m or f by sense (plural nobles)
Further reading
- “noble” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “noble”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “noble” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “noble” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French, from Old French noble, borrowed from Latin nōbilis according to the TLFi dictionary.
Pronunciation
Adjective
noble (plural nobles)
- noble, aristocratic
- (of material) non-synthetic, natural; fine
- noble, worthy (thoughts, cause etc.)
Derived terms
Descendants
Noun
noble m or f by sense (plural nobles)
- noble (person who is noble)
References
- Etymology and history of “noble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Further reading
- “noble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
German
Pronunciation
Adjective
noble
- inflection of nobel:
Middle English
Etymology
From Old French noble, from Latin nōbilis.
Adjective
noble
Descendants
- English: noble
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French, from Latin nōbilis.
Adjective
noble m or f (plural nobles)
Old French
Etymology
Adjective
noble m (oblique and nominative feminine singular noble)
Romanian
Adjective
noble m or f or n (masculine plural nobli, feminine and neuter plural noble)
Declension
Declension of noble
References
- noble in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN
Spanish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
noble m or f (masculine and feminine plural nobles)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “noble”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Adjective
noble