noblesse
- noble birth or condition
- the noble class
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French; see noble
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Related Words
magnanimitymajestysocietyincorruptibilityintegrityennoblementgenerositygreatnessexcellencegrandeurelevationexaltationroyaltybloodbirthgentrymagnificenceeliteloftinessglorificationExamples from the Web for noblesse
Contemporary Examples
In an update of Nancy Mitford's 'Noblesse Oblige', The Telegraph has this handy guide, entitled, “What type of RP do you speak?”
What if charity—giving out of love or noblesse oblige or religious commitment—doesn't go far enough?
Mitt Romney started off this campaign cycle as a noblesse oblige candidate.
The Romney-Ryan ticket now seems to be all noblesse, no oblige.
Historical Examples
Despairing of the noblesse he went among the bourgeoisie with that hope.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
It cannot be the destruction of the noblesse, for they are noble.
Gerald FitzgeraldCharles James Lever
The Burman's motto should be Noblesse oblige; he knows the meaning, if he knows not the words.
The Soul of a PeopleH. Fielding
He likened the king to the sun and the "noblesse" to the moon.
The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)Henry Martyn Baird
But this is only the Brussels of the noblesse and the foreigners.
Word Origin and History for noblesse
n.
early 13c., "noble birth or condition," from Old French noblece "noble birth, splendor, magnificence" (Modern French noblesse), from Vulgar Latin *nobilitia, from Latin nobilis (see noble (adj.)). French phrase noblesse oblige "privilege entails responsibility" is attested in English first in 1837.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper