# honorable
## English
### Alternative forms

* honble (obsolete)
* Honorable (honorific)
* (British spelling:) honourable, Honourable (honorific)

### Etymology

From Middle English honourable, from Old French honorable, honurable, from Latin honōrābilis, from honōrō (“I honour”); cognate with Italian onorabile, Spanish honorable. By surface analysis, honor +‎ -able. In this sense, largely displaced Old English ārfæst.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ŏnʹərəbl, ŏnʹrəbl, IPA: /ˈɒnəɹəbl̩/, /ˈɒnɹəbl̩/
* (General American) enPR: ŏnʹərəbl, ŏnʹrəbl, IPA: /ˈɑnəɹəbl̩/, /ˈɑnɹəbl̩/
** Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: hon‧or‧able, honor‧able

### Adjective

honorable (comparative more honorable, superlative most honorable) (American spelling)
* Behaving in a manner that shows honor; decent, having integrity.
* Worthy of respect; respectable.
    Synonyms: noble, venerable
    Antonyms: contemptible, despicable, mean
** 1887, The Popular Science Monthly, volume 31, page 629:In confinement ladies are attended, not by the ordinary doctors, but by women especially devoted to the calling, who regard their profession as honorable and humanitary.
* Complying with cultural rules regarding honor; not provoking shame or disgrace.
    That culture considered it no disgrace to be defeated in honorable combat.
** 1943, Korean Research Bulletin, volumes 1-2, page 20:Luxury was abolished. People lived in honorable marriage. All the women were chaste, faithful, and far from wantoners.
* (politics) A courtesy title, given in Britain and the Commonwealth to a cabinet minister, minister of state, or senator, and in the United States to the president, vice president, congresspeople, state governors and legislators, and mayors.
    Synonyms: (abbreviation) Hon'ble, (abbreviation) Hon.
** 1872, Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, The Unkind Word, and Other Stories, page 145:Uncheered by friends, unhissed by foes, the honorable member blandly continued his speech […]

#### Usage notes

* Historically used in the United States (early 1900s) in mockery of Japanese and Chinese people (or honorable Japs).

#### Derived terms

* amende honorable
* Hon., Hon'ble, Honourable
* Honorable Colonel
* honorable discharge
* honorable mention
* honorably, honourably
* (politics): right honorable, right honourable

#### Translations
### Noun

honorable (plural honorables)
* A politician or other person who bears the title of "honorable".
** 1959, American Journal of Psychotherapy, volume 13, page 111:These included a reception for the Congress participants, given by the city of Barcelona in a 14th century palace, with guards making room for the mayor and other honorables, […]

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin honōrābilis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [u.nuˈɾab.blə]
* IPA: (Balearic) [o.noˈɾab.blə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [o.noˈɾa.ble]

### Adjective

honorable m or f (masculine and feminine plural honorables)
* honorable

#### Derived terms

* honorablement

### Further reading

* “honorable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “honorable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “honorable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “honorable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French [Term?], borrowed from Latin honōrābilis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɔ.nɔ.ʁabl/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

honorable (plural honorables)
* honorable

#### Derived terms

* faire amende honorable
* hon.
* très honorable

#### Related terms

* honneur

### Further reading

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

## Galician
### Alternative forms

* honorábel

### Etymology

From Latin honōrābilis.

### Adjective

honorable m or f (plural honorables)
* honorable

#### Related terms

* honor
* honra

### Further reading

* “honorable”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin honōrābilis. Equivalent to honor +‎ -able.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /onoˈɾable/ [o.noˈɾa.β̞le]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -able
* Syllabification: ho‧no‧ra‧ble

### Adjective

honorable m or f (masculine and feminine plural honorables)
* honorable
    Synonyms: honrado, honesto

#### Derived terms

* honorabilidad
* honorablemente

#### Related terms

* honor
* honra
* honrar

### Further reading

* “honorable”, 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