Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To deprive of title, or of that which ennobles; render ignoble; degrade.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To deprive of that which ennobles; to degrade.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To deprive of what ennobles, to degrade.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin dis, and ennoble.

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Examples

  • Prosperity, enjoyment, happiness, comfort, peace, whatever be the name by which we designate that state in which life is to our own selves pleasant and delightful, as long as they are sought or prized as things essential, so far have a tendency to disennoble our nature, and are a sign that we are still in servitude and selfishness.

    Froude's Essays in Literature and History With Introduction by Hilaire Belloc James Anthony Froude 1856

  • Prosperity, enjoyment, happiness, comfort, peace, whatever be the name by which we designate that state in which life is to our own selves pleasant and delightful, as long as they are sought or prized as things essential, so far have a tendency to disennoble our nature, and are a sign that we are still in servitude to selfishness.

    Short Studies on Great Subjects James Anthony Froude 1856

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