ennoble en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ɪˈnəʊbəl/
Etymology
From Middle English ennoblen, from Old French ennoblir. Equivalent to en- + noble.
Meanings
-
To bestow with nobility, honour or grace.
There was no shortage of dropped jaws when news came through about the appointment of the recently ennobled Lord Peter Hendy as rail minister. This was certainly a left-field move, taking everyone (perhaps even himself) by surprise.
2024 July 24, Christian Wolmar, “Rail Minister Hendy has a tough job... but the skills to succeed”, in RAIL, number 1014, page 44:We’d like to believe that suffering instructs and ennobles.
2020, Francine Prose, “Has Trump learned anything from Covid-19? Absolutely not”, in The Grauniad:
- To perform on a fabric the industrial processes of dry-cleaning, printing and embossing, and sizing and finishing.
- (obsolete, transitive) To inarch.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ennobles | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| ennobled | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| ennobled | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| ennobling | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Deriveds
ennoblement · ennobling · ennobler · ennobled · disennoble
Synonyms
prefer · raise · promote · advance · aggrandize · dignify · elevate · knight · nobilitate · invest · lord · honor · ennoble · exalt · elevate · uplift
Translations (24)
it nobilitare (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · pl uszlachetnić (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · hu nemesít (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · hu megnemesít (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · no adle (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · el εξευγενίζω (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · pl nobilitować (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · uk облагоро́дити (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · fr anoblir (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · fi ylevöittää (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · pl uszlachcać (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · pl uwznioślać (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · pl uszlachetniać (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · uk облагоро́джувати (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · pl uwznioślić (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · ang æþelian (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · pl uszlachetniać tkaniny (to further process textile fabrics) · de veredeln (to further process textile fabrics) · bg облагородявам (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · de adeln (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · pl uszlachetnić tkaniny (to further process textile fabrics) · pl uszlachcić (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · mi whakarangatira (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace) · ru облагораживать (To bestow with nobility, honour or grace)