mid-14c., "quality of being excellent or rare," from Old French nobilite "high rank; dignity, grace; great deed" (12c., Modern French nobilité), and directly from Latin nobilitatem (nominative nobilitas) "celebrity, fame; high birth; excellence, superiority; the nobles," from nobilis "well-known, prominent" (see noble (adj.)). Meaning "quality of being of noble rank or birth" is attested from late 14c.; sense of "noble class collectively" is from 1520s.
双语例句
1. Despite its lack of formal power the nobility was not powerless.
尽管没有正式的权力，贵族阶层并非没有权势。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Most of them were the nobility and the landed gentry.
他们大多是贵族和地主乡绅。
来自柯林斯例句
3. In Norman England, the greyhound was a symbol of nobility.
灵犭是在诺曼时期的英格兰是高贵的象征。
来自柯林斯例句
4. She seemed to personify goodness and nobility.
她宛如善良和高贵的化身。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The new merchant class was anxious for acceptance by the old nobility.
