ennoble

From Middle English ennoblen, from Old French ennoblir. Equivalent to en- +‎ noble.

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnəʊbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊbəl

ennoble (third-person singular simple present ennobles, present participle ennobling, simple past and past participle ennobled)

1. To bestow with nobility, honour or grace.

   Synonyms: elevate, invest, knight, lord

   • 2020, Francine Prose, “Has Trump learned anything from Covid-19? Absolutely not”, in The Grauniad‎^[1]:

     We’d like to believe that suffering instructs and ennobles.

   • 2024 July 24, Christian Wolmar, “Rail Minister Hendy has a tough job... but the skills to succeed”, in RAIL, number 1014, page 44:

     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.

2. To perform on a fabric the industrial processes of dry-cleaning, printing and embossing, and sizing and finishing.
3. (botany, transitive, obsolete) To inarch.