ennoble

English

Etymology

From Middle English ennoblen, from Old French ennoblir. Equivalent to en- +‎ noble.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnəʊbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊbəl

Verb

ennoble (third-person singular simple present ennobles, present participle ennobling, simple past and past participle ennobled)

1. To bestow with nobility, honour or grace.

   Synonyms: elevate, invest, knight, lord

   • 2020, Francine Prose, “Has Trump learned anything from Covid-19? Absolutely not”, in The Grauniad‎^[1]:

     We’d like to believe that suffering instructs and ennobles.

   • 2024 July 24, Christian Wolmar, “Rail Minister Hendy has a tough job... but the skills to succeed”, in RAIL, number 1014, page 44:

     There was no shortage of dropped jaws when news came through about the appointment of the recently ennobled Lord Peter Hendy as rail minister. This was certainly a left-field move, taking everyone (perhaps even himself) by surprise.

2. To perform on a fabric the industrial processes of dry-cleaning, printing and embossing, and sizing and finishing.

Derived terms

• ennobled
• ennoblement
• ennobler
• ennobling

 

Translations

To bestow with nobility, honour or grace

• Bulgarian: облагородявам (bg) (oblagorodjavam)
• Finnish: ylevöittää
• French: anoblir (fr)
• German: adeln (de)
• Greek: εξευγενίζω (el) (exevgenízo)
• Hungarian: nemesít (hu), megnemesít (hu)
• Italian: nobilitare (it)
• Maori: whakarangatira
• Norwegian: adle (no)
• Old English: æþelian
• Polish: uszlachcać impf, uszlachcić pf
• Russian: облагораживать (ru) (oblagoraživatʹ)
• Ukrainian: облагоро́джувати impf (oblahoródžuvaty), облагоро́дити pf (oblahoródyty)

to further process textile fabrics

• German: veredeln (de)