1. The state of being noble; the state of being dignified.
2. An elevated title or position.
3. A person holding an elevated title; a dignitary.
4. A right to hold a title of nobility, which may be hereditary or for life.
“Dignities may be hereditary, such as peerages …, or for life, such as life peerages and knighthoods. The dignities of peerages and baronetcies are created by writ or letters patent, that of knighthood by dubbing as knight. A dignity of inheritance may also exist by prescription. Dignities of inheritance are incorporeal hereditaments having been originally annexed to the possession of certain lands or created by a grant of those lands and are generally limited to the grantee and his heirs or his heirs of the body. If heirs are not mentioned, the grantee holds for life only. The heirs are determined by the rules which governed the descent of land prior to 1926.” David M. Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law 358 (1980).
