1. Possessing hereditary rank in a political system or social class derived from a feudalistic stage of a country's development.
2. 1. Having or showing qualities of high moral character, such as courage, generosity, or honor: a noble spirit.
   2. Proceeding from or indicative of such a character; showing magnanimity: "What poor an instrument/May do a noble deed!" (Shakespeare).
3. Grand and stately in appearance; majestic: "a mighty Spanish chestnut, bare now of leaves, but in summer a noble tree" (Richard Jeffries).
4. Chemistry. Inactive or inert.

1. A member of the nobility.
2. A gold coin formerly used in England, worth half of a mark.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin nōbilis.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.