nubile

See also: Nubile

English

Etymology

From French nubile, from Latin nūbilis (“marriageable”), from nūbō (“marry, to take as husband”), from Proto-Indo-European *snewbʰ- (“to marry, to wed”). Possibly cognate with Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride, young wife, nymph”) (English nymph), but this is disputed.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnubaɪl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnjuːbaɪl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪl

Adjective

nubile (comparative more nubile, superlative most nubile)

1. Of an age suitable for marriage; marriageable (principally of a young woman). [from 17th c.]

   Synonyms: eligible, marriageable, wifeable

   • 1921, Aldous Huxley, chapter 28, in Crome Yellow‎^[1], London: Chatto & Windus, page 292:

     "Pretty little thing, isn't she?" said Mrs. Budge huskily, and panted two or three times. "Yes," Denis nodded agreement. Sixteen, slender, but nubile, he said to himself, and laid up the phrase in his memory as a happy one.

2. Sexually attractive (especially of a young woman).

   Synonyms: foxy; see also Thesaurus:sexy

Usage notes

• For a man, especially a young man, eligible is sometimes used as the corresponding term in the sense ‘marriageable’, particularly in the phrase eligible bachelor.

Derived terms

• nubility
• prenubile

Related terms

• connubial
• nuptial
• nuptials

Translations

marriageable

• Bulgarian: за женене (za ženene)
• Catalan: núbil (ca)
• Czech: na vdávání
• Dutch: huwbaar (nl)
• Finnish: naimaikäinen
• French: nubile (fr)
• German: heiratsfähig (de)
• Italian: nubile (it)
• Manx: yn-phoosey
• Polish: na wydanie
• Portuguese: núbil (pt), casável
• Spanish: núbil (es), en edad de merecer (es) (archaic), casadero (es), viripotente
• Swedish: giftasvuxen (sv)

attractive

• Czech: vnadná, sexy (cs), přitažlivá (cs)

Noun

nubile (plural nubiles)

1. A woman of marriageable age; a sexually attractive young woman

Anagrams

• beluin, unible

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin nūbilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ny.bil/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

nubile (plural nubiles)

1. nubile

   Near-synonyms: pubère, mariable

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology

From Latin nūbilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnu.bi.le/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ubile
• Hyphenation: nù‧bi‧le

Adjective

nubile m or f by sense (plural nubili)

1. unmarried

Noun

nubile f (plural nubili)

1. unmarried woman
2. spinster

Related terms

• nubilato

See also

• celibe

Further reading

• nubile in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• nubile in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• “nùbile” in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• “nùbile”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈnuː.bɪ.ɫɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈnuː.bi.le]

Adjective

nūbile

1. vocative masculine singular of nūbilus