Etymograph

English

ennoble

Ennoble comes from Old French ennoblir.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ennoblir
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ennoblen
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2020ennoble

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ennoblir
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ennoblen
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2020ennoble

Earliest quotation: 2020, Francine Prose, Has Trump learned anything from Covid-19? Absolutely not: “We’d like to believe that suffering instructs and ennobles.”

Formed from en- + noble

Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’

…

Latin nōscō ‘to know’

Latin nōbilis ‘knowable, known, well-known, famous,…’

Old French noble

Middle English noble

English noble

Every English word from Old French ennoblir

Today it means

verb To bestow with nobility, honour or grace.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French ennoblir / ennoble

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