Thanks Bhante,
of course Buddhagosa is a creative spirit when it comes to etymologies and such, but it makes him fun to read, plus he is mostly ready to present them as possibilities which is very decent…
But okay, I take it as given now that ariya means just ‘noble’ as an adjective. When it comes to the meaning of ‘noble’ I guess we’re getting closer again to Norman & Buddhagosa? It’s not that the truth is ‘noble’ as in having good eating manners or owning land - it either means that it comes from a noble source (the Buddha), or that its value is supreme, or that it ennobles, or all three of them. In your intuition from the texts, how do you take the meaning of ariya sacca or ariyo maggo?