noble (nobl)

and n. [ ized by hereditary social or political preëminence, or belonging to the cla which po e es such preeminence or dignity; distinguished by birth, rank, or title; of ancient and honorable lineage; illustrious: as, a noble personage; no ble birth. He was a noble knyght and an hardy. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 164. Come they of noble family? Why, so didst thou. Shak . , Hen. V., ii. 2. 129. The patricians of a Latin town admitted to the Roman franchise became plebeians at Rome. Thus, from the beginning, the Roman plebs contained families which, if the word noble has any real meaning, were fully as noble as any house of the three elder tribes. E. A. Freeman , Amer. Lects., p. 292. 2. High in excellence or worth. that dishonors character; loftine of tone; greatne ; grandeur. Though she hated Am phial us, yet the nobility of her courage prevailed over it. Sir P. Sidney. Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. Shak., Tit. And., i. 1. 119. There is a nobility without heraldry, a natural dignity. Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, ii. 1. 2. Social or political preeminence, usually accompanied by special hereditary privileges, founded on hereditary succe ion or descent; The noble army of Martyrs praise thee. Book of Common Prayer , Te Deum. The noblest mind the best contentment has. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 35. achievements; magnanimous; above everything is mean or dishonorable: applied to persons or the mind. Noblest of men, woo't die? Shak., A. and C., iv. 15. 59. He was my friend, My noble friend; I will bewail his ashes. Fletcher (and Mas singer?), Lover's Progre , iv. 3. Though King John had the Misfortune to fall into the Hands of his Enemy, yet he had the Happine to fall into the Hands of a noble Enemy. Baker , Chronicles, p. 124. Statues, with winding ivy crowned, belong To nobler poets, for a nobler song. Dryden, tr. of Persius's Satires, i., Prol. from illustrious ancestors, or specially conferred by sovereign authority. The Constitution of the United States provides (art. 1, sec. ix.): "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States." He call'd them untaught knaves, unmannerly, To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse Betwixt the wind and his nobility . Shak., 1 Hen. IV., i. 3. 45. New nobility is but the act of power, but ancient nobil ity is the act of time. Bacon , Nobility. Nobility without an estate is as ridiculous as gold lace on a frieze coat. Sheridan, The Duenna, ii. 3. The great peculiarity of the baronial estate in England as compared with the continent is the absence of the idea of caste: the English lords do not answer to the nobles of France or to the princes and counts of Germany, because in our system the theory of nobility of blood as conveying greatne of mind: as, noble courage; noble sentiments; noble thoughts. Thus checked, the Bishop, looking round with a noble air, cried out, "We commit our cause then to Almighty God." Latimer , Life and Writings, p. xxxix. For his entertainment, Leave that to me; he shall find noble usage, And from me a free welcome. Beau . and Fl ., Knight of Malta, iii. 2. The noblest service comes from namele hands, And the best servant does his work unseen. O. W. Holmes, Ambition. (c) Of the best kind; choice; excellent. And amonges hem, Oyle of Olyve is fulle dere: for the i holden it for fulle noble medicyne. Mandeville, Travels, p. 252. Jer. ii. 21. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine.. noble Hir garthes of nobyll sylke they were. Thomas of Er eldoune (Child's Ballads, I. 99). My wife, who, poor wretch! sat. all day, till ten at night, altering and lacing of a noble petticoat. Pepys, Diary, Dec. 25, 1668. See that there be a noble supper provided in the saloon to-night-serve up my best wines, and let me have music, d'ye hear? Sheridan , The Duenna, iii. 1. ( d ) In mineral., excellent; pure in the highest degree: as, noble opal; noble hornblende; noble tour mal in. (e) Pre cio us: valuable applied to those metals which are not rust, IMG:content-1407.jpg:[blocks in formation] Sayth master mony-taker, greasd i' th' fist, "And if tho[u] comst in danger, for a noble I'le stand thy friend, & healp thee out of trouble." Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 48. Noble e oblige [F.], literally, nobility obliges; noble birth or rank compels to noble acts; hence, the obligation noblewoman (no'bl-wum"an), n.; pl. noblewomen (-wim"en). [ altered and which are much scarcer and more valuable than the so-called useful metals. Though the epithet is applied chiefly to gold and silver, and sometimes to quicksilver, it might also with propriety be made use of in reference to platinum and the group of metals a ociated with it, since these are scarce and valuable, and are little acted on by ordinary reagents. (f) In falconry , noting long. Cf. ennoble.] To ennoble. to decay or degenerate. En . Have you given over study then? Po. Altogether; I have brought a noble to ninepence, and winged falcons which swoop down upon the quarry. 3. Of magnificent proportions or appearance; magnificent; stately; splendid: as, a noble edi fice. Vne oppon the Auter was amyt to stond An ymage full noble in the nome of god, ffyftene cubettes by course all of clene lenght, Shynyng of shene gold & of shap nobill . Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1681. It is very well built, and has many noble roomes, but they are not very convenient. Evelyn , Diary, Sept. 25, 1672. A noble library looks down upon us with its pon Story , Misc. Writings, p. 551. dero us and speaking volumes. of a master of seven arts I am become a workman of but one art. N. Bailey, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, I. 348. noblet (no'bl), v. t. [ Thou nobledest so ferforth our nature, That no desdeyn the maker hadde of kynde. Chaucer , Second Nun's Tale, 1. 40. noble-ending (nō'bl-en"ding), a. Making a noble end. [Rare.] And so, espoused to death, with blood he seal'd A testament of noble - ending love. Shak ., Hen. V., iv. 6. 27. noble-finch (nō'bl-finch), n. A book-name of the chaffinch, Fringilla cælebs , translating the German edelfink . See cut under chaffinch . nobleiet, n. See nobley . nobleman (nō'bl-man), n.; pl. noblemen (-men). [ If I blush, It is to see a nobleman want manners. Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 308. Most noble, the style of a duke. - Noble hawks, in fal- conry. See hawk1. - Noble laurel, the bay-tree, Laurus nobilis. See bay1 , 2, and laurel , 1.- Noble liverwort, the common hepatica or liverleaf, Anemone Hepatica . See Hepatica . — Noble metals. See def. 2 (e). - Noble parts of the bodyt, the vital parts, as the heart, liver, lungs, brain, etc. Dunglison . - The noble art, the art of self-defense; boxing. =Syn. 2. Noble , Generous, Mag- nanimous, honorable, elevated, exalted, illustrious, emi- nent, grand, worthy. Noble and generous start from the idea of being high-born; in character and conduct they expre that which is appropriate to exalted place. Noble of a noble mind; magnanimous. is an absolute word in excluding its opposite completely; it admits no degree of the petty, mean, base, or dish on- orable; it is one of the words selected for the expre ion of loftine in spirit and life. With generous the idea of Thus has it been said does society naturally divide itself into four cla es - noblemen , gentlemen, gigmen, and Carlyle. noble-minded (no'bl-minded), a. Po e ed men. The fraud of England, not the force of France, Hath now entrapp'd the noble - minded Talbot. Shak., 1 Hen. VI., iv. 4. 37. ene , Whyl that this king sit thus in his noble ye . Chaucer, Squire's Tale, 1. 69. Ne pomp, array, nobley , or ek riche e, Ne made me to rew on youre distre e, But moral virtu, grounded upon trout he. Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 1670. 2. The body of nobles; the nobility. Your princes erren, as your nobley doth. Chaucer , Second Nun's Tale, 1. 449. See nobblin . noblin, n. nobly (nō'bli), adv . [ noble + -ly2 .] In a no- ble manner. (a) Of ancient or noble lineage; from no- ble ancestors: as, nobly born or descended. (b) In a man- ner befitting a noble. A gentleman of noble parentage, Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd. Shak., R. and J., iii. 5. 182. (c) With magnanimity, bravery, generosity, etc.; heroically. Was not that nobly done? Shak., Macbeth, iii. 6. 14. Well beat, O my immortal Indignation! Thou nobly swell'st my belking Soul. J. Beaumont, Psyche, i. 20. (d) Splendidly; magnificently: as, he was nobly entertained. In that Reme ben faire men, and the i gon fulle nobely arrayed in Clothes of Gold. Mandeville , Travels, p. 152. Behold! Where on the Ægean shore a city stands, Built nobly ; pure the air, and light the soil; Athens, the eye of Greece. Milton , P. R., iv. 239. =Syn. Illustriously, honorably, magnanimously, grandly, superbly, sublimely. nobody (no'bo-di), n.; pl. nobodies (-diz). [ that of a noble nature free, warm heart going forth toward others: as, a generous foe disdains to take an unfair advantage. Magnanimous comes nearer to the meaning of noble; it notes or describes that largene of mind that has breadth enough and height enough to take in large views, broad sympathies, exalted standards, etc. (See definition of magnanimity.) It generally implies superiority of position: as, a nation so great as the United States or Great Britain can afford to be mag nanimous in its treatment of injuries or affronts from nations comparatively weak. II. n . 1. A person of acknowledged social or political preeminence; a person of rank above a commoner; a nobleman; specifically, in Great Britain and Ireland, a peer; a duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron. See nobility and peerage. I come to thee for charitable license... To sort our nobles from our common men. For many of our princes woe the while! - Lie drown'd and soak'd in mercenary blood. of being noble. (a) Preeminence or distinction obtained by birth, or derived from a noble ancestry; distinguished lineage or rank; nobility. I hold it ever Virtue and cunning were endowments greater Than noblene and riches. Shak . , Pericles, iii. 2. 28. (b) Greatne of excellence or worth; loftine ; excellence; magnanimity; elevation of mind; nobility. The Body of K. Harold his Mother Thyra offered a great Sum to have it delivered to her; but the Duke, out of the Noblene of his Mind, would take no Money, but deliver'd it freely. Baker , Chronicles, p. 23. Greatne of mind, and noblene , their seat Build in her loveliest. Milton , P. L., viii. 557. The king of noblene e gave charge unto the friers of Leicester to see an honourable interrment to be giuen to it. Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII., p. 2. (c) Stateline ; grandeur; magnificence. For noblene of structure, and riches, it [the abbey of Ashmole , Berks hire, II. 341. ( Latham .) Shak ., Hen. V., iv. 7. 77. Reading) was equal to most in England. Let us see these handsome houses, Where the wealthy nobles dwell. Tennyson, Lord of Burleigh. 2. An old English gold coin, current for 6s. 8d., first minted by Edward III., and afterward by Richard II., Henry IV., V., and VI., and also by Ed- ward IV., under whom one variety of the noble was called the ryal or rose noble (see ryal). The obverse type of all these no- bles was the king in a ship. The reverse in- script i on, "Jesus au- tem transiens per me- dium illorum ibat" (Luke iv. 30), was prob- ably a charm against thieves. Ruding con- jectures, though not with much probabil- ity, that the coins de- rived their name from the noble nature of the metal of which they were composed. The coin was much imitat- ed in the Low Coun- tries. See George -noble, quarter-noble. Heo tolde him a tale and tok him a noble, For to ben hire beodemon and hire baude after. Reverse. Noble of Edward III. (Size of the original.) (d) Excellence; choicene of quality. We ate and drank, And might-the wines being of such noblene - Have jested also. Tennyson, Lover's Tale, Golden Supper. (e) Of metals, freedom from liability to rust. = Syn. See nobility and noble.