Search the Dictionary

One of the nobility; a noble; a peer; one who enjoys rank above a commoner, either by virtue of birth, by office, or by patent.

A purple color in a nobleman's escutcheon, or coat of arms.

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

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.

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.

The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the "black guard"; also, the servants and hangers-on of an army. [Obs.] A lousy slave, that . . . rode with the…

An allowance of meat and drink for the tables of inferior officers or servants in a nobleman's palace or at court. [Obs.]

An officer in a king's or a nobleman's household, whose principal business it is to take charge of the liquors, plate, etc.; the head servant in a large house. The butler and the baker of the king of Egypt. Gen. xl. 5. Your wine locked up, your butler strolled abroad. Pope.

A fortified residence, especially that of a prince or nobleman; a fortress. The house of every one is to him castle and fortress, as well for his defense againts injury and violence, as for his repose. Coke. Our castle's strength Will laugh a siege to scorn. Shak.

An officer having the direction and management of the private chambers of a nobleman or monarch; hence, in Europe, one of the high officers of a court.

A choir of singers, or an orchastra, attached to the court of a prince or nobleman.

The clients or dependents of a nobleman of patron.

A nobleman on the continent of Europe, equal in rank to an English earl.

The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or ether dignitary; a palace. Attends the emperor in his royal court. Shak. This our court, infected with their manners, Shows like a riotous inn. Shak.

A title formerly given by a king to a nobleman, particularly to those of the council. In English writs, etc., issued by the crown, it signifies any earl. My noble lords and cousins, all, good morrow. Shak.

, in some countries, the official title of the grand master or steward of the king's or a nobleman's household.

; to lower in rank' to deprive of office or dignity; to strip of honors; as, to degrade a nobleman, or a general officer. Prynne was sentenced by the Star Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar. Palfrey.

A nobleman of England ranking below a marquis, and above a viscount. The rank of an earl corresponds to that of a count (comte) in France, and graf in Germany. Hence the wife of an earl is still called countess. See Count.

A man of elevated rank or station; a nobleman. In Spain, a nobleman of the first rank, who may be covered in the king's presence.

A title, denoting a Spanish nobleman of the lower class.