noblesse

noun literary

1. noble birth or condition
2. the noble class

n.early 13c., “noble birth or condition,” from Old French noblece “noble birth, splendor, magnificence” (Modern French noblesse), from Vulgar Latin *nobilitia, from Latin nobilis (see noble (adj.)). French phrase noblesse oblige “privilege entails responsibility” is attested in English first in 1837.