n.
Benevolent, honorable behavior considered to be the responsibility of persons of high birth or rank.
[French, nobility is an obligation : noblesse, nobility + oblige, third person sing. present tense of obliger, to obligate.]
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.
