8 results for: nobility

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
no·bil·i·ty    Audio Help   [noh-bil-i-tee] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural -ties.
1.the noble class or the body of nobles in a country.
2.(in Britain) the peerage.
3.the state or quality of being noble.
4.nobleness of mind, character, or spirit; exalted moral excellence.
5.grandeur or magnificence.
6.noble birth or rank.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME nobilite < L nōbilitās. See noble, -ity]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
nobility

To learn more about nobility visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
no·bil·i·ty    Audio Help   (nō-bĭl'ĭ-tē)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. no·bil·i·ties
  1. A class of persons distinguished by high birth or rank and in Great Britain including dukes and duchesses, marquises and marchionesses, earls and countesses, viscounts and viscountesses, and barons and baronesses: "The old English nobility of office made way for the Norman nobility of faith and landed wealth" (Winston S. Churchill).
  2. Noble rank or status: Congress may not grant titles of nobility.
  3. The state or quality of being exalted in character.


[Middle English nobilite, the quality of being noble, from Old French, from Latin nōbilitās, from nōbilis, noble; see noble.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
nobility 
1398, "quality of being excellent or rare," from O.Fr. nobilite (Fr. nobilité), from L. nobilitatem (nom. nobilitas) "nobleness," from nobilis "well-known, prominent" (see noble). Meaning "quality of being of noble rank or birth" is attested from c.1440; sense of "noble class collectively" is from 1530.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
nobility

noun
1. a privileged class holding hereditary titles 
2. the quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct 
3. the state of being of noble birth 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
noˈbility1 [-ˈbi-] noun
the state of being noble
Example: the nobility of his mind/birth
Arabic: نُبْل، نَبالَه، أصالَه، شَرَف الشُّعور
Chinese (Simplified): 高贵
Chinese (Traditional): 高貴
Czech: šlechetnost, ušlechtilost
Danish: ædelhed; nobelhed
Dutch: adellijkheid, edelheid
Estonian: õilsus
Finnish: jalous
French: noblesse
German: die Vornehmheit
Greek: ευγένεια, αρχοντιά
Hungarian: nemesség
Icelandic: aðall
Indonesian: kemuliaan
Italian: nobiltà
Japanese: 高潔さ
Korean: 고귀함
Latvian: aristokrātija; dižciltīgums
Lithuanian: kilnumas, kilmingumas
Norwegian: edelhet, nobelhet
Polish: szlachetność
Portuguese (Brazil): nobreza
Portuguese (Portugal): nobreza
Romanian: nobleţe
Russian: благородство
Slovak: šľachetnosť
Slovenian: plemenitost
Spanish: nobleza
Swedish: ädelhet, adlig börd
Turkish: soyluluk, asalet
noˈbility2 [-ˈbi-] noun
nobles ie dukes, earls etc
Example: The nobility supported the king during the revolution.
Arabic: النُّبَلاء
Chinese (Simplified): 贵族阶层
Chinese (Traditional): 貴族階層
Czech: šlechta
Danish: adel
Dutch: adel
Estonian: aadel
Finnish: aatelisto
French: noblesse
German: der Adel
Greek: ευγενείς, αριστοκρατία
Hungarian: nemesség
Icelandic: aðalsmannastétt
Indonesian: bangsawan
Italian: nobiltà
Japanese: 貴族
Korean: 귀족
Latvian: aristokrātija
Lithuanian: diduomenė
Norwegian: adel(sstand)
Polish: szlachta
Portuguese (Brazil): nobreza
Portuguese (Portugal): nobreza
Romanian: nobi­lime
Russian: дворянство
Slovak: šľachta
Slovenian: plemstvo
Spanish: nobleza
Swedish: adel
Turkish: soylular, asiller
See also: nobleman, nobly, noble

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Nobility

No*bil"i*ty\, n. [L. nobilitas: cf. OF. nobilit['e]. See Noble.]

1. The quality or state of being noble; superiority of mind or of character; commanding excellence; eminence.

Though she hated Amphialus, yet the nobility of her courage prevailed over it. --Sir P. Sidney.

They thought it great their sovereign to control, And named their pride nobility of soul. --Dryden.

2. The state of being of high rank or noble birth; patrician dignity; antiquity of family; distinction by rank, station, or title, whether inherited or conferred.

I fell on the same argument of preferring virtue to nobility of blood and titles, in the story of Sigismunda. --Dryden.

3. Those who are noble; the collictive body of nobles or titled persons in a stste; the aristocratic and patrician class; the peerage; as, the English nobility.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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