Etymologically
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honorable

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɒn.ə.ɹəbl̩/, /ˈɒn.ɹəbl̩/[1]
  • US: /ˈɑn.ə.ɹəbl̩/, /ˈɑn.ɹəbl̩/[1]

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

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