no·ble
(nṓbəl)
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin nōbilis.]
adjective: -bler, -blest.
- Possessing hereditary rank in a political system or social class derived from a feudalistic stage of a country's development.
- Having or showing qualities of high moral character, such as courage, generosity, or honor: a noble spirit.
- Proceeding from or indicative of such a character; showing magnanimity: “What poor an instrument/May do a noble deed!” (Shakespeare)
- Grand and stately in appearance; majestic: “a mighty Spanish chestnut, bare now of leaves, but in summer a noble tree” (Richard Jeffries)
- Chemistry Inactive or inert.
noun
- A member of the nobility.
- A gold coin formerly used in England, worth half of a mark.
derivatives
- nóble·ness
- noun
- nóbly
- adverb
