noun
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the rank, title, or dignity of an earl or countess
-
the lands of an earl or countess
Etymology
Origin of earldom
before 1150; Middle English erldom, Old English eorldōm. See earl, -dom,
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He gave up an inherited earldom in 1994 in order to keep voting in the Commons.
From BBC • Nov. 29, 2023
Can I have a courtesy title while I wait to inherit an earldom?
From The Guardian • Nov. 11, 2019
My aunt, now in her nineties, grew up partly in the house of her grandfather, the heir to an earldom.
From The New Yorker • Jun. 22, 2018
And I have no idea what’s to come of Lagertha and her earldom, Kalf, and the various bad-guy heirs who want to see Ragnar dead.
From Forbes • Mar. 19, 2015
He married in 1113 Matilda, daughter and heiress of Waltheof, earl of Northumbria, and thus became possessed of the earldom of Huntingdon.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
