Where does “nobility” come from?
Nobility comes from Old French nobilité, from Latin nobilitas (quality of being well-known), from nobilis (known, noble), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ǵneh₃- (to know).
nobility (English): A noble or privileged social class, historically...
Definitions
- A noble or privileged social class, historically...
Ancestry of “nobility”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | nobilité | — |
| 2 | Latin | nobilitas | celebrity, fame, renown; nobility; nobleness |
| 3 | Latin | nōbilis | noble, high-born |
| 4 | Latin | -bilis | -ble |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -ðlis | Forms adjectives from verb stems indicating capacity or worth of being acted on |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlom | Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;... |