n. pl. no·bil·i·ties 1. A class of persons distinguished by high birth or rank and in Great Britain including dukes and duchesses, marquises and marchionesses, earls and countesses, viscounts and viscountesses, and barons and baronesses: "The old English nobility of office made way for the Norman nobility of faith and landed wealth" (Winston S. Churchill). 2. Noble rank or status: Congress may not grant titles of nobility. 3. The state or quality of being exalted in character. [Middle English nobilite, the quality of being noble, from Old French, from Latin nōbilitās, from nōbilis, noble; see NOBLE.] |
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