a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xxvi. 23 Men..broȝten out Vrie fro Egipt, and broȝten hym to king Joachym; and he smot hym with swerd, and threȝ aferr his careyne in sepulcris of the vnnoble comun [a1425 L.V. puple vnnoble; L. vulgi ignobilis].

1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. x. sig. Bvii The noble men bare agarment vnlyke to them that were vnnoble.

?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors xix. sig. E6^v No noble or vnnoble man, shal retayne any of the kyngs subiectys withowt lauful wagys.

1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (xlvii. 5) He setting all the world asyde, had adopted to himself a feawe unnoble persons.

1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. T2^v/1, at Corruption of blood If he were noble, or a gentleman before, he and his children are made vnnoble and vngentle in respect of the father.

1660 E. Waterhouse Disc. Arms & Armory 179 They must be contented to stand included under the base and unnoble state of people.

1794 Brit. Crit. Sept. 233 Villani, Mercatores, Burgenses, et Servi, were accounted unnoble and ungentle, and incapable of bearing arms.

1859 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Aeneid xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. II. 478 Other unwedded maids In Latium be, and in Laurentine fields, Nor they unnoble in their pedigree.

1894 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 May 1/3 He has never been further in the House of Commons than the Peers' Gallery, and he may be pardoned therefore for not recognizing that his un-noble colleagues are the greatest obstructionists that sit there.

1963 Economist 17 Aug. 567/3 Mr Wedgwood Benn was born unnoble..and became noble..on his father's death, when he was automatically ennobled.

1987 Afr. Arts 20 15 An un-noble blacksmith.

2006 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 28 Oct. 24 It's obviously a role Keith is relishing, and he says he based the decidedly unnoble nobleman on a very modern politician - the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xliii. f. 60 Y^e lownes and vnnoblenes of Marius encreased to him fauour specially of the commentie which were come of vnnoble blode, as he was.

1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer iii. sig. Hh.ij^v So glorious a soule, that deserued..renowme after death, as in lief it dwelled in an vnnoble body.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. ii. sig. P2^v The perfections are such in the partie I loue, as the feeling of them cannot come into any vnnoble hart.

a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Custome of Countrey iv. i. in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. C4/2 How happy am I now; since my Sonne fell, He fell not, by a base unnoble hand?

1963 G. Dietze In Def. Property iii. 75 The nobleman may possess not only noble, but also un-noble, bourgeois and peasants' property.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) 1 Kings ii. 30 Who so euere honoureþ me I schal glorifyen hym, who forsoþe dispisyn me: shuln ben vnnoble [L. ignobiles].

c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 185 (MED) A spectacle we ben mad to þis world, to angelis and men: We, folis for Crist; ȝe, sliȝe in Crist. We, sike; ȝe, stronge. ȝe, noble; we, unnoble.

c1520 M. Nisbet New Test. in Scots (1903) II. 1 Cor. iv. 10 We seek, bot ye stark; ye nobile, bot we vnnobile [v.r. vnnoble].

1573 G. Gascoigne & F. Kinwelmersh Iocasta 2nd Chorus in G. Gascoigne Hundreth Sundrie Flowres sig. Niv So, woulde the Gods, that in this noble realme Shoulde neuer long vnnoble tyrant reigne.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 321 Neither is there any Horsse, swift, or slow, noble, or vnnoble, that can be guided without these [reins].

1616 N. Breton Good & Badde in Wks. (1879) II. 6/2 An vnnoble man is the griefe of Reason, when the title of honour is put vpon the subiect of disgrace.

1641 R. Boyle Diary in Lismore Papers (1886) 1st Ser. V. 195 Papers concerning the vnnoble Earle of Middlesex.

1941 P. Grainger Let. 27 Sept. in All-round Man (1994) 180 So, too, it was hope-raising & pride-raising when you 3 great English tonewrights turned up & utterly dwarfed the un-noble groping tone-thralls that filled our classes with dullness.

1994 Times 10 Dec. 1/2 I came by some of the names through my work for the British intelligence. I don't want to betray that trust... I do not want to be unnoble with the British Government.

2002 Threepenny Rev. 90 30/2 The man remains unglamorous, un-noble, ordinary.

1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 50 Pyrrhus..in a most-noble resolution contemned the Vanities of vnnoble Pastimes.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iii. xi. 50 I haue offended Reputation, A most vnnoble sweruing. View more context for this quotation

1629 J. Ford Lovers Melancholy ii. 35 My affections..are pure, Without all mixture of vn noble thoughts.

a1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 29 If Lancaster had been of so unnoble a Disposition.

1704 T. D'Urfey Female Revenge in Tales Tragical & Comical 125 After much unnoble Arrogance, Which nothing but rank Madness can defend.

1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. I. 152 Him likewise, when or by disease oppressed, Or now, too languid from his years, he fails, Conceal at home; nor his unnoble eld Forgive.

1875 Blackburn Standard 18 Sept. 7/2 He did not hold that it was unreasonable, as some of our modern scientific philosophers told us, one saying that it was unnoble and another that it was unthinkable.

1915 Times 26 Oct. 10/3 The motive of those convicted was not unnoble.

1995 J. T. Kirby Poquosin ii. 61 Ruffin's image was striking, to be sure, but determinedly unnoble and unbeautiful.

2012 Tampa Bay (Florida) Times (Nexis) 26 Aug. 1 Yes, Medi-scare, Social Security scaring, there's a noble tradition, or unnoble tradition, of that in Florida.