Perhaps a gloss or paraphrase for noble persons or noble ones, i.e., those who, through having reached the path of seeing, belong to one of four types: stream enterer (Skt. srota-āpanna), once-returner (Skt. sakṛdāgāmin), non-returner (Skt. anāgāmin), or worthy one (Skt. arhat). These stages are characterized by the gradual elimination of the fetters (Skt./Pāli saṃyojana) that bind one to saṃsāra and to being an ordinary person (Skt. pṛthagjana; Pāli puthujjana).