Etymologically
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nobility

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /nəʊˈbɪlɪti/, /nəˈbɪlɪti/[1]
  • US: /noʊˈbɪlɪti/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nobilite, also nobelte,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman nobilité and Middle French nobilité (“valour, merit, renown”),[4][5][6] in Old French nobilitet from the mid-11th century,[4] and directly borrowed from Latin nōbilitās (“renown, distinction; noble birth; the nobles”),[4][5][3][7] from nōbilis (“well-known, noted; high-born”), the source of noble, and the suffix -tās (see -ity).[4][5][7][8] Etymonline traces nōbilis, earlier *gnōbilis (“knowable”), to gnōscō (“to come to know”), from Proto-Indo-European *gno- (“to know”).[5] The Anglo-Norman form nobleté, recorded from the first half of the 12th century, already meant nobility of character, a noble deed, splendour and noble birth.[9] The OED compares Italian nobilità, from before 1250.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Honour, renown, majesty: Barnhart finds nobelte in this sense about 1350,[3] and Etymonline dates nobilite in the same sense to the mid-14th century.[5] The OED's first quotation, before 1387 in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon, is for stateliness or impressive appearance.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word meant high birth or rank and, collectively, the nobles,[2][3] both from the late 14th century in Etymonline;[5] the OED dates the rank sense to about 1425, in Lydgate, and the noble class to before 1475.[4] From about 1400 to 1678 it also meant excellence or high value, chiefly of things.[4][5] The moral sense, loftiness or nobleness of character, is recorded from 1508 in the OED, and Etymonline dates it to the 1590s.[4][5] Johnson (1755) put first antiquity of family joined with splendour.[10] In 1656 the nobility in chess were the pieces other than pawns,[4] while since 1907 the word has been used in chemistry for the unreactiveness of a noble element, now rarely.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1350 – nobelte, honour, majesty.[3][5]
  • before 1387 – stateliness, magnificence; noble birth and the nobles in Barnhart.[4][3]
  • before 1400 – high status or value, chiefly of things (obsolete by 1678).[4]
  • c. 1425 – noble rank or birth.[4]
  • before 1475 – the noble class of a country.[4]
  • 1508 – nobleness of character.[4]
  • 1581 – nobles collectively, without an article.[4]
  • 1656 – in chess, the pieces other than pawns.[4]
  • 1907 – in chemistry, the unreactiveness of an element.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The noble class of a country; the aristocracy, whose titles are inherited or granted by a monarch: Much of the nobility fled the capital.[11][6][4]
  2. In Britain, the peerage: dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and barons and their female equivalents collectively.[11]
  3. Noble rank or birth: a family of ancient nobility.[6][4]
  4. Excellence of mind or character; moral dignity: the nobility of her sacrifice.[11][6][4]
  5. Superior quality, value or grandeur: the nobility of the cathedral's design.[6][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins