noble

See also: Noble and NOBLE

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)

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

   Antonyms: commoner, plebeian

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

2. (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, 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

• half-noble
• noble gas
• nobleman

 

Translations

aristocrat

• Albanian: fisnik (sq) m, fisnike (sq) f,
• Arabic: نَبِيل (ar) m (nabīl), شريف m (šarīf)
• Armenian: ազնվական (hy) (aznvakan)
• Azerbaijani: zadəgan (az)
• Bulgarian: благоро́дник (bg) (blagoródnik), велмо́жа (bg) (velmóža)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 貴族／贵族 (zh) (guìzú)

• Czech: šlechtic (cs) m
• Danish: adelsmand c, adelskvinde c (female), adelsdame c (female), aristokrat c
• Dutch: edele (nl) m, aristocraat (nl) m, adellijke (nl) m
• Esperanto: nobelo (eo), nobelino (female)
• Finnish: aristokraatti (fi)
• French: noble (fr) m or f, aristocrate (fr) m or f, nobliau (fr) m (derogatory)
• Galician: nobre (gl) m or f
• Georgian: თავადი (tavadi), დიდგვაროვანი (didgvarovani), წარჩინებული (c̣arčinebuli), დიდებული (ka) (didebuli)
• German: Adeliger (de) m, Adliger (de) m, Adelige (de) f, Adlige (de) f, Aristokrat (de) m, Aristokratin (de) f, Edelmann (de) m, Edelfrau (de) f, Edeldame f, Edelfräulein (de) n (young, unmarried), Edler m, Edle f
• Greek: αριστοκράτης (el) m (aristokrátis), ευγενής (el) m or f (evgenís)

  Ancient: ἄριστος m (áristos)

• Hawaiian: aliʻi
• Hebrew: אציל \ אָצִיל (he) m (atsíl), אצילה \ אֲצִילָה f (atsilá)
• Hindi: कुलीन (hi) (kulīn), अभिजात (hi) m (abhijāt)
• Hungarian: nemes (hu)
• Irish: uasal (ga) m
• Japanese: 貴族 (ja) (きぞく, kizoku)
• Kazakh: ақсүйек (aqsüiek)
• Macedonian: благо́родник m (blagórodnik), ве́лможа m (vélmoža), великодо́стојник m (velikodóstojnik)
• Maori: ariki (mi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: adelsmann (no) m, adelskvinne m or f (female), adelsdame m or f (female), aristokrat (no) m

  Nynorsk: adelsmann m, adelskvinne f, adelsdame f, aristokrat m

• Old English: ǣþel m
• Persian: نجیب‌زاده (najib-zâde)
• Polish: arystokrata (pl) m, arystokratka (pl) f, arystokratka (pl) m, szlachcianka (pl) f
• Portuguese: nobre (pt) m or f
• Romanian: nobil (ro) m, nobilă (ro) f, aristocrat (ro) m, aristocrată (ro) m
• Russian: аристокра́т (ru) m (aristokrát), аристокра́тка (ru) f (aristokrátka), дворяни́н (ru) m (dvorjanín), дворя́нка (ru) f (dvorjánka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пле̏мић m, пле̏мкиња f

  Roman: plȅmīć m, plȅmkinja (sh) f

• Slovak: šľachtic (sk) m, urodzený m
• Spanish: noble (es) m or f
• Swedish: adelsman (sv) c (male), adelsdam (sv) c (female), adelskvinna c (female), adelsperson c, aristokrat (sv) c
• Yiddish: אַדלמאַן m (adlman), אַריסטאָקראַט m (aristokrat), דוואָריאַנין m (dvoryanin) (Russia), וויעלמאָזשנע m (vyelmozhne) (Poland)

medieval gold coin

• German: Nobel m

Adjective

noble (comparative nobler or more noble, superlative noblest or most noble)

1. 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^[1] (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.

2. 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.

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

   Synonym: superior

   Antonyms: inferior, plebeian

   noble blood; a noble personage

4. (chemistry) Of an element, unreactive.
5. (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.
6. (geometry, of a polyhedron) Both isohedral and isogonal.

Derived terms

• angel-noble
• ennoble
• nobility
• noble art
• noble-born
• noble chafer
• noble eightfold path
• noble experiment
• noble fir
• noble gas
• noble hops
• noble lie
• nobleman
• noble metal
• noble-minded
• nobleness
• noble rot
• noble savage
• noblewoman
• nobly
• rose noble

 

Translations

having honorable qualities

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: كَرِيم (karīm), شَرِيف (šarīf), نَبِيل (ar) (nabīl)
• Armenian: ազնիվ (hy) (azniv), վեհ (hy) (veh), վեհանձն (hy) (vehanjn)
• Belarusian: шляхе́тны (šljaxjétny)
• Bulgarian: благоро́ден (bg) (blagoróden)
• Catalan: noble (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 高貴／高贵 (zh) (gāoguì), 高尚 (zh) (gāoshàng)

• Czech: vznešený (cs), velkomyslný (cs), ušlechtilý (cs)
• Dutch: edel (nl), adellijk (nl), eervol (nl), fatsoenlijk (nl), nobel (nl)
• Esperanto: nobla (eo)
• Estonian: aatelik
• Finnish: aatelinen (fi), jalo (fi), ylväs (fi)
• French: noble (fr), aristocratique (fr)
• Galician: nobre (gl)
• Georgian: კეთილშობილი (ḳetilšobili), დიდსულოვანი (didsulovani), სულგრძელი (sulgrʒeli)
• German: nobel (de), edel (de), großzügig (de), großmütig (de), hehr (de)
• Greek: αριστοκρατικός (el) (aristokratikós)

  Ancient: γενναῖος (gennaîos)

• Hawaiian: aliʻi
• Hebrew: יקר רוח (y"kar ruakh), נאצל (he) m (né'étsal)
• Hindi: कुलीन (hi) (kulīn), आर्य (hi) m (ārya)
• Hungarian: nemes (hu)
• Irish: uasal (ga), án (ga)
• Italian: nobile (it)
• Japanese: 偉い (ja) (erai), 立派な (ja) (rippa na)
• Khmer: អភិជន (a’pʰi’ cɔɔn)
• Kyrgyz: асыл (ky) (asıl)
• Latin: pulcher (la), nōbilis (la)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: благороден (blagoroden)
• Maori: metarahi, metararahi
• Norman: nobl'ye (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: edel (no)

  Nynorsk: edel

• Occitan: nòble (oc)
• Ottoman Turkish: شریف (şerif), كریم (kerim)
• Persian: شریف (fa) (šarif)
• Polish: szlachetny (pl)
• Portuguese: nobre (pt)
• Romanian: nobil (ro)
• Russian: благоро́дный (ru) (blagoródnyj)
• Scots: athill
• Scottish Gaelic: uasal, mòrdha, miathail, flathail, allail, òirdheirc
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: племѐнит

  Roman: plemènit (sh)

• Slovak: šľachetný, ušľachtilý, vznešený
• Spanish: noble (es)
• Swedish: ädel (sv), nobel (sv)
• Turkish: soylu (tr), asil (tr)
• Ukrainian: благоро́дний (uk) (blahoródnyj), шляхе́тний (šljaxétnyj)
• West Frisian: eal

of or relating to the nobility; distinguished from the masses by birth

• Albanian: fisnik (sq) m, fisnike (sq) f
• Azerbaijani: əsil (az)
• Belarusian: высакаро́дны (vysakaródny), шляхе́тны (šljaxjétny)
• Bulgarian: благоро́ден (bg) (blagoróden), аристократи́чен (bg) (aristokratíčen)
• Finnish: aatelinen (fi), aatelis-
• German: adlig (de), aristokratisch (de), vornehm (de), nobel (de), erhaben (de), erlaucht (de), prächtig (de), stattlich (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: γενναῖος (gennaîos), εὐγενής (eugenḗs)

• Hindi: कुलीनता f (kulīntā)
• Irish: uasal (ga)
• Italian: nobile (it), aristocratico (it)
• Japanese: 偉い (ja) (erai), 貴い (ja) (tōtoi), 高貴な (ja) (kōki na), 貴族の (ja) (kizoku no)
• Latin: nōbilis (la)
• Macedonian: благороден (blagoroden)
• Old English: æþele
• Ottoman Turkish: شریف (şerif)
• Polish: szlachetny (pl)
• Romanian: nobil (ro)
• Russian: благоро́дный (ru) (blagoródnyj), аристократи́ческий (ru) (aristokratíčeskij)
• Slovak: urodzený, aristokratický (sk)
• Swedish: adlig (sv), välboren (sv)
• Ukrainian: шляхе́тний (šljaxétnyj)
• Yiddish: אַדלדיק (adldik)

grand, magnificent, splendid

• Bulgarian: възвишен (bg) (vǎzvišen), величествен (bg) (veličestven)
• Hindi: महान (hi) (mahān)
• Italian: splendido (it)

See also

• honorable

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

• Bolen, Lebon, Nobel

Asturian

Adjective

noble (epicene, plural nobles)

1. noble

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nōbilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈnɔb.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈno.ble]

Adjective

noble m or f (masculine and feminine plural nobles)

1. noble

Derived terms

• gas noble
• noblement
• noblesa

Noun

noble m or f by sense (plural nobles)

1. noble

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

• 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.)

Derived terms

• gaz noble
• noblement
• noblesse
• pourriture noble

 

Descendants

• → Danish: nobel
• → German: nobel

Noun

noble m or f by sense (plural nobles)

1. noble (person who is noble)

References

• Etymology and history of “noble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Further reading

• “noble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnoːblə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

noble

1. inflection of nobel:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French noble, from Latin nōbilis.

Adjective

noble

1. noble

Descendants

• English: noble

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin nōbilis.

Adjective

noble m or f (plural nobles)

1. noble

Old French

Etymology

From Latin nōbilis.

Adjective

noble m (oblique and nominative feminine singular noble)

1. noble; upper-class; well-bred

   Synonyms: avenant, cortois

Romanian

Adjective

noble m or f or n (masculine plural nobli, feminine and neuter plural noble)

1. Obsolete form of nobil.

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	noble		noble		nobli	noble
	definite	noblele		noblea		noblii	noblele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	noble		noble		nobli	noble
	definite	noblelui		noblei		noblilor	noblelor

References

• noble in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin nōbilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnoble/ [ˈno.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -oble
• Syllabification: no‧ble

Adjective

noble m or f (masculine and feminine plural nobles)

1. noble

Derived terms

• gas noble
• metal noble
• noblemente

 

Related terms

• nobleza

 

Further reading

• “noble”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Adjective

noble

1. definite natural masculine singular of nobel

Anagrams

• Nobel, nobel