# 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: /ˈnəʊbəl/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈnoʊbəl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -əʊbəl
* Hyphenation: no‧ble

### Noun

noble (plural nobles)
* An aristocrat; one of aristocratic blood. [from 14th c.]
    Antonyms: commoner, plebeian
    This country house was occupied by nobles in the 16th century.
* (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
### Adjective

noble (comparative nobler or more noble, superlative noblest or most noble)
* 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 (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.
* 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.
* 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
* (chemistry) Of an element, unreactive.
* (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.
* (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

* A user suggests that this English entry be cleaned up, giving the reason: “The two senses have been mixed”.
* Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.

### 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)
* noble

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nōbilis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈnɔb.blə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈno.ble]

### Adjective

noble m or f (masculine and feminine plural nobles)
* noble

#### Derived terms

* gas noble
* noblement
* noblesa

### Noun

noble m or f by sense (plural nobles)
* 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: /nɔbl/
* Audio; “un noble”:(file)

### Adjective

noble (plural nobles)
* noble, aristocratic
* (of material) non-synthetic, natural; fine
* 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)
* 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: /ˈnoːblə/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

noble
* inflection of nobel:
** strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
** strong nominative/accusative plural
** weak nominative all-gender singular
** weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

## Middle English
### Etymology

From Old French noble, from Latin nōbilis.

### Adjective

noble
* noble

#### Descendants

* English: noble

## Middle French
### Etymology

From Old French, from Latin nōbilis.

### Adjective

noble m or f (plural nobles)
* noble

## Old French
### Etymology

From Latin nōbilis.

### Adjective

noble m (oblique and nominative feminine singular noble)
* noble; upper-class; well-bred
    Synonyms: avenant, cortois

## Romanian
### Adjective

noble m or f or n (masculine plural nobli, feminine and neuter plural noble)
* 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: /ˈnoble/ [ˈno.β̞le]
* Rhymes: -oble
* Syllabification: no‧ble

### Adjective

noble m or f (masculine and feminine plural nobles)
* noble
    Synonym: hidalgo

#### 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 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Adjective

noble
* definite natural masculine singular of nobel

### Anagrams

* Nobel, nobel