From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishnobleno‧ble1 /ˈnəʊbəl $ ˈnoʊ-/ ●○○ adjective 1 GOOD/MORALmorally good or generous in a way that is admired It’s very noble of you to spend all your weekends helping the old folk. noble ideals2 [only before noun] belonging to the nobilitynoble family/blood/birth etc a member of an ancient noble family The Marquis would have to marry a woman of noble blood.3 BEAUTIFUL/GOOD-LOOKINGsomething that is noble is very impressive and beautiful the old church with its noble tower4 → noble gas/metal5 → noble savage
Examples from the Corpus
noble• In the end, none of the characters are good or noble.• a man of noble birth• Above these were the heavily armed cavalry, who were free vassals of noble blood.• The Siberian tiger is regarded as a noble creature.• In its place she put her noble Negro, patient, saintly Tom.• a noble purpose• He was rough as a bear in manner, but withal a noble, tender-hearted fellow and a splendid soldier.• I was not paid to preside over disasters - however noble the cause.• Those intentions were noble, the realisation fraught.noble family/blood/birth etc• His long fingernails attest that his was not a life of hard physical labour but that he was probably of noble birth.• This woman of noble birth chose to study philosophy rather than relish in her beauty.• Its ranks are open to all young men of noble birth regardless of where they live within the Empire.• Biscop Baducing was born into a noble family, then was ordained into the priesthood at the age of twenty-five.• He had seen her sitting at the high table among the other ladies of noble birth who served the Empress.• According to legend, Eurosia was a maiden of noble birth, who was promised to a pagan.• Thus Barbarossa came from a noble family, with a background that suited him to his eventual imperial career.noblenoble2 noun [countable] HIGH POSITION OR RANKa member of the highest social class with a title such as ‘Duke’ or ‘Countess’ → commonerExamples from the Corpus
noble• a gathering of kings and nobles• And at the very top, the ancient immunities of kings and nobles.• Fathers who wanted to become nobles sacrificed their own children at altars.• The range of opinions expressed by nobles on the provincial committees made plain to St Petersburg that it had to act alone.• Second, and more important, even nobles who were determined to be recalcitrant expressed their recalcitrance in many different ways.• In relation to the total number of nobles in Gascony, the proportion of knights was therefore relatively small.• Meanwhile, his relationship with Northumberland brought other nobles into his orbit, most notably John lord Scrope of Bolton.• Might this religion not encourage revolt on the part of the nobles and peasants, as it rather did in 1638?• He attends the Imperial court in Altdorf and is one of Karl Franz's oldest and most trusted nobles.Origin noble1 (1200-1300) Old French Latin nobilis 