nobility | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

49 entries found.

Old English weorþ "value, price, price paid; worth, worthiness, merit; equivalent value amount, monetary value," from worth (adj.). From c. 1200 as "excellence, nobility."

Ulrich

masc. proper name, German, from Old High German Uodalrich, literally "of a rich home," from uodal "home, nobility" (related to Old English æðele "noble," Old Norse oðal "home").

chivalry (n.)

c. 1300, "body or host of knights; knighthood in the feudal social system; bravery in war, warfare as an art," from Old French chevalerie "knighthood, chivalry, nobility, cavalry, art of war," from chevaler "knight," from Medieval Latin caballarius "horseman," from Latin caballus "nag, pack-horse" (see cavalier).

From late 14c. as "the nobility as one of the estates of the realm," also as the word for an ethical code emphasizing honor, valor, generosity and courtly manners. Modern use for "social and moral code of medieval feudalism" probably is an 18c. historical revival.

Ethel

fem. proper name, originally a shortening of Old English Etheldred, Ethelinda, etc., in which the first elements mean "noble, nobility," from Proto-Germanic *athala- (see atheling).

highness (n.)

Old English heanes; see high (adj.) + -ness. Meaning "royalty, excellence, nobility" is early 13c.; Your Highness as a form of address to English royalty is attested from c. 1400.

aristocratic (adj.)

c. 1600, "pertaining to aristocracy," from French aristocratique, from Greek aristokratikos "belonging to the rule of the best," from aristokratia (see aristocracy). Meaning "grand, stylish, befitting the nobility" is from 1845. Related: Aristocratical (1580s); aristocratically.

Ethelbert

Anglo-Saxon masc. proper name, Old English Æðelbryht, literally "nobility-bright;" from æðele "noble" (see atheling) + bryht "bright; splendid; beautiful; divine" (from PIE root *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white").

impress (n.)

"act of impressing" (1590s), also "characteristic mark" (1580s), from impress (v.1). From 1620s as "badge worn by nobility or their retainers," from Italian impresa; earlier in English in this sense as impreso, imprese (1580s).

mademoiselle

mid-15c., madamoisell, title applied to an unmarried Frenchwoman, formerly in France the title of any woman not of the nobility, from French mademoiselle (12c.), from a compound of ma dameisele (see damsel), literally "young mistress." Contracted form ma'amselle is attested from 1794, mamsell by 1842.

Aladdin

name of a hero in stories from the "Arabian Nights," from Arabic Ala' al Din, literally "height (or nobility) of the faith," from a'la "height" + din "faith, creed." Figurative use often in reference to his magic lamp, by which difficulties are overcome, or his cave full of riches.

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