Nobility

How to spell nobility

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce nobility

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does nobility mean?

1. nounThe class of people holding hereditary titles and high social rank.
2. nounThe quality of having a fine, generous, or honourable character.

Nobility in a sentence

• The medieval nobility owned vast estates across the countryside.

• There was real nobility in the way she cared for her ailing neighbour.

• Members of the nobility were invited to the royal coronation.

• He faced the diagnosis with quiet nobility and remarkable calm.

Where does nobility come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin nobilitas, meaning 'fame', 'high birth', or 'excellence of character', which was built on the adjective nobilis, literally 'well-known' or 'famous'. That adjective in turn came from the old root noscere, 'to know', so a noble person was originally simply someone who was widely known and recognised. English took the word in through Old French nobilite during the 1300s, when it referred both to the privileged aristocratic class and to the moral dignity expected of them. Over time the two threads, social rank and admirable character, settled into the modern senses we still use. The shared ancestry with 'notice', 'note', and 'noble' all trace back to that same idea of being known, and the single 'b' followed by '-ility' is the spelling detail worth fixing in memory.

How the word is built

• nobil- (from Latin nobilis: noble, well-known)
• -ity (noun suffix forming a state or quality)