noble

English Online Dictionary. What means noble‎? What does noble mean?

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/
• Rhymes: -əʊbəl
• Hyphenation: no‧ble

Noun

noble (plural nobles)

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

   Antonyms: commoner, plebeian

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

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:nobleman

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

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

2. 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
4. Grand; stately; magnificent; splendid.
5. Of exalted rank; of or relating to the nobility; distinguished from the masses by birth, station, or title; highborn.

   Synonym: superior

   Antonyms: inferior, plebeian

7. (chemistry) Of an element, unreactive.
8. (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.
9. (geometry, of a polyhedron) Both isohedral and isogonal.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• honorable

Further reading

• “noble”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “noble”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →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, 2025
• “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/

Adjective

noble (plural nobles)

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

Derived terms

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/

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

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

   Synonym: hidalgo

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “noble”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Adjective

noble

1. definite natural masculine singular of nobel

Anagrams

• Nobel, nobel