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NOBILITY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct
Synonyms:
grandeur; magnanimousness; nobility; nobleness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("nobility" is a kind of...):
honorableness; honourableness (the quality of deserving honor or respect; characterized by honor)
Attribute:
noble (having or showing or indicative of high or elevated character)
ignoble (completely lacking nobility in character or quality or purpose)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nobility"):
high-mindedness; idealism; noble-mindedness (elevated ideals or conduct; the quality of believing that ideals should be pursued)
sublimity (nobility in thought or feeling or style)
Derivation:
noble (having or showing or indicative of high or elevated character)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A privileged class holding hereditary titles
Synonyms:
aristocracy; nobility
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("nobility" is a kind of...):
elite; elite group (a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status)
Meronyms (members of "nobility"):
aristocrat; blue blood; patrician (a member of the aristocracy)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nobility"):
noblesse (members of the nobility (especially of the French nobility))
baronage; peerage (the peers of a kingdom considered as a group)
baronetage (the collective body of baronets)
knighthood (aristocrats holding the rank of knight)
samurai (feudal Japanese military aristocracy)
Instance hyponyms:
Ferdinand and Isabella (joint monarchs of Spain; Ferdinand V and Isabella I)
William and Mary (joint monarchs of England; William III and Mary II)
Derivation:
noble (of or belonging to or constituting the hereditary aristocracy especially as derived from feudal times)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The state of being of noble birth
Synonyms:
nobility; noblesse
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("nobility" is a kind of...):
position; status (the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nobility"):
purple; the purple ((in ancient Rome) position of imperial status)
Derivation:
noble (of or belonging to or constituting the hereditary aristocracy especially as derived from feudal times)
Context examples:
“His human fictions, as you choose to call them, make for nobility and manhood. You have no fictions, no dreams, no ideals. You are a pauper.”
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It was likewise ordered, that three hundred tailors should make me a suit of clothes, after the fashion of the country; that six of his majesty’s greatest scholars should be employed to instruct me in their language; and lastly, that the emperor’s horses, and those of the nobility and troops of guards, should be frequently exercised in my sight, to accustom themselves to me.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
We have many most respectable and worthy young women who do the same and are employed by the nobility, because, being the daughters of gentlemen, they are both well bred and accomplished, you know, said Miss Kate in a patronizing tone that hurt Meg's pride, and made her work seem not only more distasteful, but degrading.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
A poor widow barely able to live, between thirty and forty; a mere Mrs Smith, an every-day Mrs Smith, of all people and all names in the world, to be the chosen friend of Miss Anne Elliot, and to be preferred by her to her own family connections among the nobility of England and Ireland!
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Quite true, Hump, quite true. I have no fictions that make for nobility and manhood.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
But I was soon informed, both by conversation and reading their histories; for, in the course of many ages, they have been troubled with the same disease to which the whole race of mankind is subject; the nobility often contending for power, the people for liberty, and the king for absolute dominion.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
But even the satisfaction of talking with a distant connection of the British nobility did not render Amy forgetful of time, and when the proper number of minutes had passed, she reluctantly tore herself from this aristocratic society, and looked about for Jo, fervently hoping that her incorrigible sister would not be found in any position which should bring disgrace upon the name of March.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
This bit of the ferment we call ‘Johnson,’ when he is no longer a bit of the ferment, only dust and ashes, will have no more nobility than any dust and ashes, while I shall still be alive and roaring.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
As to their military affairs, they boast that the king’s army consists of a hundred and seventy-six thousand foot, and thirty-two thousand horse: if that may be called an army, which is made up of tradesmen in the several cities, and farmers in the country, whose commanders are only the nobility and gentry, without pay or reward.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
The scientific celebrities, forgetting their mollusks and glacial periods, gossiped about art, while devoting themselves to oysters and ices with characteristic energy; the young musician, who was charming the city like a second Orpheus, talked horses; and the specimen of the British nobility present happened to be the most ordinary man of the party.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
