Search the Dictionary

statue of Apollo in the Belvedere gallery of the Vatican palace at Rome, esteemed of the noblest representations of the human frame.

eing near; approach; also, the result of approximating. The largest capacity and the most noble dispositions are but an approximation to the proper standard and true symmetry of human nature. I. Taylor.

held Christ to be inferior to God the Father in nature and dignity, though the first and noblest of all created beings. -- n.

chy. The aristocracy of Venice hath admitted so many abuses, trough the degeneracy of the nobles, that the period of its duration seems approach. Swift.

One of the aristocracy or people of rank in a community; one of a ruling class; a noble.

Of or pertaining to an aristocracy; consisting in, or favoring, a government of nobles, or principal men; as, an aristocratic constitution.

hus placed in order; an orderly collection; hence, a body of soldiers. A gallant array of nobles and cavaliers. Prescott.

se, in a figurative sense; to proceed from an inferior to a superior degree, from mean to noble objects, from particulars to generals, from modern to ancient times, from one note to another more acute, etc.; as, our inquiries ascend to the remotest antiquity; to ascend to our first progenitor.

rnment of France (1790-1796), and based on the security of the lands of the church and of nobles which had been appropriated by the state.

nspiring belief or confidence. I dare assure thee that no enemy Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus. Shak.

An Anglo-Saxon prince or nobleman; esp., the heir apparent or a prince of the royal family. [Written also Adeling and Ætheling.]

To unite in making. [Obs. & R.] The four elements . . . have atoned A noble league. Ford.

That which accompanies; a concomitant. [A] sense of fame, the attendant of noble spirits. Pope.

Protection; patronage and care; guidance. Which by his auspice they will nobler make. Dryden.

or of a fief, who had feudal tenants under him; in modern times, in France and Germany, a nobleman next in rank below a count; in England, a nobleman of the lowest grade in the House of Lords, being next below a viscount.

Morally low. Hence: Low-minded; unworthy; without dignity of sentiment; ignoble; mean; illiberal; menial; as, a base fellow; base motives; base occupations. "A cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind." Robynson (More's Utopia). "Base ingratitude." Milton.

sleeping in. Shak. Lords of the bedchamber, eight officers of the royal household, all of noble families, who wait in turn a week each. [Eng.] -- Ladies of the bedchamber, eight ladies, all titled, holding a similar official position in the royal household, during the reign of a queen. [Eng.]

nor of a province or district in the Turkish dominions; also, in some places, a prince or nobleman; a beg; as, the bey of Tunis.

Lineage; extraction; descent; sometimes, high birth; noble extraction. Elected without reference to birth, but solely for qualifications. Prescott.

Some peculiar mark or blemish on the body at birth. Most part of this noble lineage carried upon their body for a natural birthmark, . . . a snake. Sir T. North.