The Buddha used this term as usual to harness an already held image in the mind of the public, and he was from the warrior class. This indicates endurance and perseverance are held in high regard as applied to the middle stage of the practice (MN 70).
"The word [ārya](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arya_(Buddhism&action=edit&redlink=1) (Pāli: ariya), in the sense of “noble” or “exalted”, is very frequently used in Buddhist texts to designate a spiritual warrior or hero, which use this term much more often than Hindu or Jain texts. Buddha’s Dharma and Vinaya are the ariyassa dhammavinayo. The Four Noble Truths are called the catvāry āryasatyāni (Sanskrit) or cattāri ariyasaccāni (Pali). The Noble Eightfold Path is called the āryamārga (Sanskrit, also āryāṣṭāṅgikamārga) or ariyamagga (Pāli).
“In Buddhist texts, the ārya pudgala (Pali: ariyapuggala, “noble person”) are those who have the Buddhist śīla (Pāli sīla, meaning “virtue”) and who have reached a certain level of spiritual advancement on the Buddhist path, mainly one of the four levels of awakening”—Wikipedia