honorable

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English honourable (also honorable),^[2][3] borrowed from Old French honorable (also onorable, honurable),^[4][3][5] and partly directly from Latin honōrābilis (“that brings honour, estimable”),^[3][4] formed on honōrō (“to honour”) with the suffix that gave English -able.^[2][5] The Latin verb comes from honor (“honour”), the source of honor.^[4][5] Etymonline notes that the word appears as a surname in the mid-13th century, in Walter le Onorable, also called Walter Honurable.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Worthy of honour, respect or reverence, said of a person: a1340, in Richard Rolle's Psalter, which calls Christ "honurabile till all".^[3] Etymonline dates this sense to the mid-14th century and Merriam-Webster to the 14th century.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

From the late 14th century the adjective also described what is upright and morally right (c. 1384), what brings honour or distinction (?a1400) and, from the mid-15th century, a person of high rank, noble or illustrious.^[6] As a title before the name of a peer or an official it dates from about 1400 according to Etymonline, or a1440 according to the Historical Thesaurus.^[4][6] The OED (1989) lists who receives it: in Britain the children of some ranks of the peerage, High Court judges and members of governments in Commonwealth countries; in the United States members of Congress and of state legislatures and judges; and the House of Commons, whose members call one another honourable member or honourable gentleman.^[3] The sense "honest, sincere, in good faith" is recorded from the 1540s and "acting justly" from about 1600.^[4] An obsolete sense, "respectable in amount, considerable", is dated from Middle English to the mid-17th century by the Shorter Oxford, but from 1590 and as only "somewhat rare" by the Historical Thesaurus;^[5][6] Merriam-Webster illustrates it from Shakespeare.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined the word first as "illustrious; noble", then "great; magnanimous; generous" and "conferring honour".^[7] The noun, an honourable person, is dated to the late 14th century by Etymonline and to c. 1540 by the Historical Thesaurus;^[4][6] a rare verb meant to honour (1455) and, later, to address someone as Honourable (1877–94).^[8]

Timeline

• a1340 – worthy of honour, of a person (Richard Rolle).^[3]
• c. 1384 – upright, morally right, of a thing.^[6]
• late 14th century – the noun, an honourable person;^[4] c. 1540 in the Historical Thesaurus.^[6]
• c. 1400 – a title before the name of a peer or official;^[4] a1440 in the Historical Thesaurus.^[6]
• ?c. 1450 – of distinguished rank, noble.^[6]
• 1455 – a verb, to honour.^[8]
• 1540s – honest, sincere, in good faith.^[4]
• 1548 – consistent with a good name.^[6]
• 1590 – considerable in size or amount, now rare.^[6]
• c. 1600 – acting justly.^[4]
• 1877 – the verb, to address someone as Honourable.^[8]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having or showing high moral principles; honest and upright: She made the honorable choice and returned the money.
2. Deserving honour, respect or esteem.
3. Bringing honour, or consistent with a good name: an honorable discharge.
4. Of distinguished rank; illustrious.
5. (usually Honorable) A title of respect placed before the names of certain officials and, in Britain, of the children of some peers; used in Parliament by one member speaking of another (abbreviated Hon.).
6. (obsolete) Respectable in amount; considerable.

Noun

1. A person entitled to the title Honorable.

Word family

• honorableness
• honorably
• honorability
• Hon.
• amende honorable
• honorable mention
• honorable discharge

Related words

• honor
• honorary
• honorific

Usage notes

Honorable is the American spelling and honourable the chiefly British one.^[4][9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b c Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins