noble

Etymology

From Middle English noble, from Old French noble, from Latin nobilis (“knowable, known, well-known, famous, celebrated, high-born, of noble birth, excellent”), from noscere, gnoscere (“to know”). Displaced native Middle English athel (“noble”) (from Old English æþele) and Middle English hathel, hathelle (“noble, nobleman”) (from the merger of Old English æþele (“nobleman”) and Old English hæleþ (“hero”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnəʊbəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnoʊbəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊbəl
• Hyphenation: no‧ble

Noun

noble (plural nobles)

1. An aristocrat; one of aristocratic blood. [from 14th c.]

   This country house was occupied by nobles in the 16th century.

2. (now historical) A medieval gold coin of England in the 14th and 15th centuries, usually valued at 6s 8d. [from 14th c.]
   • 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, Aeropagitica:

     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 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.

Adjective

noble (comparative more noble, superlative most noble)

1. Having honorable qualities; having moral eminence and freedom from anything petty, mean or dubious in conduct and character.

   He made a noble effort.

   He is a noble man who would never put his family in jeopardy.

2. Grand; stately; magnificent; splendid.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     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.

   a noble edifice

3. Of exalted rank; of or relating to the nobility; distinguished from the masses by birth, station, or title; highborn.

   noble blood; a noble personage

4. (geometry, of a polyhedron) Both isohedral and isogonal.

See also

• honorable

Further reading

• noble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• noble in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• noble at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Bolen, Nobel

Adjective

noble (masculine and feminine plural nobles)

1. noble

Noun

noble m, f (plural nobles)

1. noble

Etymology

From Old French, borrowed from Latin nobilis according to the TLFi dictionary.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɔbl/

• audio (un noble)

  (file)

Adjective

noble (plural nobles)

1. noble, aristocratic
2. (of material) non-synthetic, natural; fine
3. noble, worthy (thoughts, cause etc.)

Noun

noble m, f (plural nobles)

1. noble (person who is noble)

Derived terms

• noblesse
• noblement
• gaz noble

References

• etymology

Further reading

• “noble” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnoːblə/

Adjective

noble

1. strong feminine singular nominative form of nobel.
2. strong feminine singular accusative form of nobel.
3. strong plural nominative form of nobel.
4. strong plural accusative form of nobel.
5. weak masculine singular nominative form of nobel.
6. weak feminine singular nominative form of nobel.
7. weak feminine singular accusative form of nobel.
8. weak neuter singular nominative form of nobel.
9. weak neuter singular accusative form of nobel.
10. mixed feminine singular nominative form of nobel.
11. mixed feminine singular accusative form of nobel.

Etymology

Old French

Adjective

noble

1. noble

Etymology

Old French

Adjective

noble m, f (plural nobles)

1. noble

Etymology

Latin nobilis

Adjective

noble m (oblique and nominative feminine singular noble)

1. noble; upper-class; well-bred

Etymology

From Latin nobilis.

Adjective

noble (plural nobles)

1. noble

Adjective

noble

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of nobel.