honorable

English

Alternative forms

• honble (obsolete)
• Honorable (honorific)
• (British spelling:) honourable, Honourable (honorific)

Etymology

From Middle English honourable, from Old French honorable, honurable, from Latin honōrābilis, from honōrō (“I honour”); cognate with Italian onorabile, Spanish honorable. Surface analysis is honor +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ŏnʹərəbl, ŏnʹrəbl, IPA^(key): /ˈɒnəɹəbl̩/, /ˈɒnɹəbl̩/
• (General American) enPR: ŏnʹərəbl, ŏnʹrəbl, IPA^(key): /ˈɑnəɹəbl̩/, /ˈɑnɹəbl̩/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Hyphenation: hon‧or‧able, honor‧able

Adjective

honorable (comparative more honorable, superlative most honorable) (American spelling)

1. Worthy of respect; respectable.
2. (politics) 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.

Usage notes

• Historically used in the United States (early 1900s) in mockery of Japanese people (or honorable Japs).

Synonyms

• venerable
• noble
• Hon'ble
• Hon.

Antonyms

• despicable
• contemptible
• mean

Derived terms

• Hon., Hon'ble, Honourable
• honorably, honourably
• (politics): right honorable, right honourable

Translations

worthy of respect

• Armenian: պատվարժան (hy) (patvaržan)
• Belarusian: шляхе́тны (šljaxjétny), паважа́ны (pavažány), шано́ўны (šanóŭny), пачэ́сны (pačésny)
• Bulgarian: уважа́ем (bg) (uvažáem), достопочте́н (bg) (dostopočtén), почте́н (bg) (počtén)
• Catalan: honorable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可敬 (zh) (kějìng)

• Czech: ctihodný
• Dutch: eervol (nl)
• Finnish: kunnioitettava (fi), kunnianarvoisa
• French: honorable (fr)
• Galician: honorable (gl)
• Georgian: პატივცემული (ṗaṭivcemuli)
• German: ehrbar (de)
• Greek: αξιότιμος (el) (axiótimos), εντιμότατος (entimótatos)

  Ancient: τίμιος (tímios)

• Hungarian: tiszteletreméltó (hu)
• Italian: onorevole (it), onorabile (it)
• Japanese: 偉い (ja) (erai), 素晴らしい (ja) (subarashii), 立派な (ja) (rippa na)
• Kazakh: мәртебелі (märtebeli)

• Latin: honōrābilis, honestus
• Maori: whakahōnore
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hederlig, ærverdig, respektabel

• Occitan: onorable (oc)
• Old English: ārfæst
• Polish: czcigodny (pl), szanowny (pl), dostojny (pl)
• Portuguese: honorável (pt)
• Romanian: onorabil (ro)
• Russian: благоро́дный (ru) (blagoródnyj), уважа́емый (ru) (uvažájemyj), почте́нный (ru) (počténnyj), почётный (ru) (počótnyj)
• Sanskrit: प्रमुख (sa) (pramukha)
• Scottish Gaelic: onarach
• Spanish: honorable (es), honroso
• Swedish: hedervärd (sv), ärevördig
• Telugu: గౌరవనీయ (gauravanīya)
• Turkish: saygıdeğer (tr)
• Ukrainian: благоро́дний (uk) (blahoródnyj), шляхе́тний (šljaxétnyj), поважа́ний (považányj), шано́ваний (šanóvanyj), поче́сний (počésnyj), пошти́вий (poštývyj), шано́вний (uk) (šanóvnyj)

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin honōrābilis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /o.noˈɾa.blə/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /u.nuˈɾa.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /o.noˈɾa.ble/

Adjective

honorable (masculine and feminine plural honorables)

1. honorable

Derived terms

• honorablement

Further reading

• “honorable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “honorable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2022
• “honorable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “honorable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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French

Etymology

From Old French [Term?], borrowed from Latin honōrābilis.

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /ɔ.nɔ.ʁabl/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

honorable (plural honorables)

1. honorable

Derived terms

• faire amende honorable
• hon.
• très honorable

Related terms

• honneur

Further reading

• “honorable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Galician

Alternative forms

• honorábel

Etymology

From Latin honōrābilis.

Adjective

honorable m or f (plural honorables)

1. honorable

Related terms

• honor
• honra

Further reading

• “honorable” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin honōrābilis. Equivalent to honor +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /onoˈɾable/, [o.noˈɾa.β̞le]

• Audio (Colombia)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -able

Adjective

honorable (plural honorables)

1. honorable

   Synonym: honesto

Derived terms

• honorabilidad
• honorablemente

Related terms

• honor
• honra
• honrar

Further reading

• “honorable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014