- ignoble (adj.)
- mid-15c., "of low birth;" 1590s as "not honorable, of low character;" from Middle French ignoble (14c.), from Latin ignobilis "unknown, undistinguished, obscure; of base birth, not noble," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + gnobilis "well-known, famous, renowned, of superior birth" (see noble (adj.)). Related: Ignobly; ignobility.
