Noble or upper-class ancestry or lineage. Hence: persons of gentle or noble ancestry viewed collectively; the gentry or nobility. Now archaic and…

Chiefly with the and plural agreement. People of gentle birth or rank collectively; the gentry. rare.

The group of people forming the noble class in a country or state; a noble class, an aristocracy.

A noble person, a peer; members of the nobility collectively, the peerage. Obsolete.

The nobility, the peerage; people of noble rank.