nobility
Highborn social stratum
Nobility refers to people of high hereditary rank—dukes, earls, barons, and the like—who form the aristocratic class in societies with titled hierarchies: The nobility owned most of the land.
The word also denotes the quality of being noble in character—moral excellence, dignity, and elevated purpose: There was a quiet nobility in how she faced her illness.
These senses connect through the idea that high birth was once assumed to bring high virtue.
Fortified medieval residence
- palaceMonarch's official residence
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- regaliaCeremonial emblems of authority
- scepterCeremonial staff of sovereignty
courtier · crown · manor · estate · chateau · realm · kingdom · pageantry
Highest-ranking nobleman
- duchessWoman of ducal rank
- marquessNobleman below duke
- earlBritish hereditary noble rank
- countessFeminine noble rank
viscount · baron · baroness · baronet · knight · dame · lord · lady
High regard, moral dignity
- integrityMoral soundness and consistency
- dignityInnate personal worth
- magnanimityGenerous, noble spirit
- gallantryCourage, especially in combat
chivalry · valor · rectitude · uprightness · virtue · decency · selflessness · altruism
Ancestry through generations
- pedigreeRecord of descent
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- genealogyStudy of family descent
descent · dynasty · forebears · progenitors · ancestors · succession · inheritance · birthright
castle
Fortified medieval residence
- palaceMonarch's official residence
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- regaliaCeremonial emblems of authority
scepter · courtier · crown · manor · estate · chateau · realm · kingdom · pageantry · coronation
duke
Highest-ranking nobleman
countess · viscount · baron · baroness · baronet · knight · dame · lord · lady · peer
honor
High regard, moral dignity
- integrityMoral soundness and consistency
- dignityInnate personal worth
- magnanimityGenerous, noble spirit
gallantry · chivalry · valor · rectitude · uprightness · virtue · decency · selflessness · altruism · graciousness
bloodline
Ancestry through generations
genealogy · descent · dynasty · forebears · progenitors · ancestors · succession · inheritance · birthright · house
entitlement
Assumed right to benefits
- wealthAbundance of valuable resources
- affluenceAbundance of money
- luxuryExpensive nonessential comfort
opulence · leisure · patronage · exemption · immunity · endowment · benefaction · land · estate · inheritance
- nobilityking, queen, prince, princess, duke
- period dramaperiod costumes, costume drama, Victorian era, period piece, Edwardian era
- virtuesintegrity, honesty, justice, courage, fairness
- Medieval Termsfeudalism, manorialism, serfdom, guilds, fiefdoms
- aristocratic institutionsmonarchy, peerage, royal court, privy council, knighthood
- Elite Familiesroyalty, aristocrats, dynasties, blue bloods, old money
nobilitycommoners
Ordinary citizens, untitled
peasantry · plebeians · proletariat · serfs · common people
- French nobilityFrance's hereditary elite
- medieval nobilityFeudal ruling class
- titles of nobilityFormal aristocratic ranks
- English nobilityHereditary titled class
- British nobilityTitled upper class, UK
- landed nobilityAristocrats whose status derives from estates