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earl

earl

9 8.8
A British noble who ranks between a marquess and a viscount
  • noun
  • /ɪrəl/
translation icon : conde
  • His name is Anthony Ashley Cooper, but we know him as the Earl of Shaftesbury.

Maybe these were those kind of men who were captured and killed by the the local Earl and his thanes.

Examples

  • He's the fourth son of an earl.

  • Mary was forced to abdicate and the Earl of Murray took power as Regent for her infant son James.

  • The reason it came to three families was that the title was held by the Earl of Oxford.

  • Of course, his grandfather was an earl, you know.

  • The earl must do everything in his power merely to survive.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Edward, our poet earl, has returned to court.

  • Well, Princess Diana was the daughter of an earl.

  • And here is the Earl of Shaftesbury.

  • It is true that an earl is not a prince.

  • The title of earl is often passed down through generations within noble families.

Synonyms

Lord
vsearl
  • UK
335 4.8

A man who has a noble title and may sit in the House of Lords

is a specific British rank placed between higher and lower noble titles
count
vsearl
142 8.2

A nobleman in some European countries with a rank like an earl

is the British form of that same noble rank
noble
vsearl
63 5.3

A person from a high social family with a title

is the specific British rank within that broader aristocratic group
peer
vsearl
  • UK
48 8.6

A noble person with a title who sits in the House of Lords

is one specific rank within that broader titled class
nobleman
vsearl
14 5.6

A man from a high social class who has a title

is a specific British rank rather than a general noble status

Compounds

9.9

An officer with a high noble rank in Britain who organizes royal ceremonies and formal public events

How Noble

duke
53 6.1
marquis
6 9.7
earl
9 8.8
viscount
4 9.9
baron
20 8.0

Surface Forms

earl singular
earls plural

Etymology

Earl comes from the old English word eorl, which meant 'noble' or 'warrior' and is like the Old Norse jarl meaning 'chief'. So an earl today is still a high British nobleman, a kind of leader in old times.