honorable
adjective
- deserving respect
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɒn.ə ɹəbl̩/ / /ˈɒn.ɹəbl̩/ / /ˈɑn.ə.ɹəbl̩/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English honourable, from Old French honorable, honurable, from Latin honōrābilis, from honōrō (“to honour”); cognate with Italian onorabile, Spanish honorable. By surface analysis, honor + -able. In this sense, largely displaced Old English ārfæst.
- Behaving in a manner that shows honor; decent, having integrity.
- Worthy of respect; respectable.
“In confinement ladies are attended, not by the ordinary doctors, but by women especially devoted to the calling, who regard their profession as honorable and humanitary.”
- Complying with cultural rules regarding honor; not provoking shame or disgrace.
“That culture considered it no disgrace to be defeated in honorable combat.”
“Luxury was abolished. People lived in honorable marriage. All the women were chaste, faithful, and far from wantoners.”
- A courtesy title, given in Britain and the Commonwealth to a cabinet minister, minister of state, or senator, and in the United States to the president, vice president, congresspeople, state governors and legislators, and mayors.
“Uncheered by friends, unhissed by foes, the honorable member blandly continued his speech […]”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English honourable, from Old French honorable, honurable, from Latin honōrābilis, from honōrō (“to honour”); cognate with Italian onorabile, Spanish honorable. By surface analysis, honor + -able. In this sense, largely displaced Old English ārfæst.
- A politician or other person who bears the title of "honorable".
“These included a reception for the Congress participants, given by the city of Barcelona in a 14th century palace, with guards making room for the mayor and other honorables, […]”