noble: [13] Etymologically, to be noble is simply to be ‘well known’. The word reached English via Old French noble from Latin nōbilis. But this was only a later form of an original gnōbilis (preserved in the negative form ignoble [16]), which was derived from the base *gnō- ‘know’, source also of English notorious. It thus originally meant ‘knowable’, hence ‘known’, and only subsequently broadened out via ‘well known’ to ‘noble’ (which in ancient Rome denoted ‘belonging to a family of which many members had held high office in the state’). => cognition, ignoble, know, notorious, recognize
noble (adj.)
c. 1200, "illustrious, distinguished; worthy of honor or respect," from Old French noble "of noble bearing or birth," from Latin nobilis "well-known, famous, renowned; excellent, superior, splendid; high-born, of superior birth," earlier *gnobilis, literally "knowable," from gnoscere "to come to know," from PIE root *gno- "to know" (see know). The prominent Roman families, which were "well known," provided most of the Republic's public officials.
Meaning "distinguished by rank, title, or birth" is first recorded late 13c. Sense of "having lofty character, having high moral qualities" is from c. 1600. A noble gas (1902) is so called for its inactivity or intertness; a use of the word that had been applied in Middle English to precious stones, metals, etc., of similar quality (late 14c.), from the sense of "having admirable properties" (c. 1300).
noble (n.)
"man of rank," c. 1300, from noble (adj.). The same noun sense also is in Old French and Latin. Late 14c. as the name of an English coin first issued in reign of Edward III.
双语例句
1. He had implicit faith in the noble intentions of the Emperor.
他对皇帝陛下高尚的动机深信不疑。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Cockburn's arrival coincided with that of Sir Iain and Lady Noble.
科伯恩到时正好伊恩爵士和诺布尔夫人也来了。
来自柯林斯例句
3. We'll always justify our actions with noble sounding theories.
