no|ble

no|ble «NOH buhl», adjective, -bler, -blest, noun.

–adj.

1. high and great by birth, rank, or title: »

a noble family, noble blood.

SYNONYM(S): aristocratic, high-born, patrician.

2. high and great in character; showing greatness of mind; good: »

a noble knight, a noble deed.

SYNONYM(S): honorable, worthy.

3. excellent; fine; splendid; magnificent: »

a noble poem, a noble animal; a cruciform hall of noble dimensions (Nicholas P. S. Wiseman). Niagara Falls is a noble sight.

SYNONYM(S): imposing, stately. See syn. under grand. (Cf. ↑grand)

4. not easily rusted or deteriorated; precious; valuable: »

Gold and silver are noble metals.

5. (in falconry) of the long-winged hawks, such as the falcons, that swoop down on the quarry: »

The hawks have been classified as "noble' or "ignoble' according to the length and sharpness of their wings (G. D. Campbell).

–n.

1. a person high and great by birth, rank, or title: »

[The Hittites] evolved a pioneering constitutional monarchy; their kings had to answer to a council of nobles (Newsweek).

2. an English gold coin of the late Middle Ages, worth 6 shillings and 8 pence.

3. Slang. the leader of a group of strikebreakers.

╂[< Old French noble, learned borrowing from Latin nōbilis, gnōbilis noble, renowned, well known < gnōscere to know]

–no´ble|ness, noun.