Noble

Noble

Adjective / Noun · /ˈnəʊ.bəl/

Definition

(Adjective) having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles; of excellent or imposing quality; belonging to the hereditary aristocracy; (of a gas) chemically inert — not reacting with other elements under normal conditions; (Noun) a person belonging to the hereditary aristocracy; a historical gold coin of England.

Origin

From Old French noble and Latin nobilis (well-known, notable, of noble birth, excellent), from noscere (to come to know, to be known), from Proto-Indo-European *gneh₃- (to know). The same root as know, knowledge, cognition, and notorious. Noble therefore being, at its etymological root, simply the well-known, the noted — with the social sense of aristocratic birth and the moral sense of excellence of character both developing from this original sense of distinction through being known and recognised.