earl

¹

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noun

1. a British nobleman of a rank below that of marquis and above that of viscount: called count for a time after the Norman conquest. The wife of an earl is a countess.
2. (in Anglo-Saxon England) a governor of one of the great divisions of England, including East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, and Wessex.

Earl

²

or Earle

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noun

1. a male given name: from the old English word meaning “noble.”

earl

/ ɜːl /

noun

1. (in the British Isles) a nobleman ranking below a marquess and above a viscount Female equivalentcountess
2. (in Anglo-Saxon England) a royal governor of any of the large divisions of the kingdom, such as Wessex

Word History and Origins

Origin of earl¹

before 900; Middle English erl, Old English eorl; cognate with Old Saxon erl man, Old Norse jarl chieftain

Word History and Origins

Origin of earl¹

Old English eorl; related to Old Norse jarl chieftain, Old Saxon erl man

Example Sentences

Earl Spencer adds, “Effectively, my great-grandfather sold his children to his father-in-law.”

From The Daily Beast

This is admittedly a loaded question, but do you feel James Earl Ray really killed Martin Luther King Jr.?

From The Daily Beast

The earl was killed in battle and Marshal captured, but he would later be ransomed by the queen herself.

From The Daily Beast

William appears to have organized acquiescence by English lords for John, and was duly awarded when he was made Earl of Pembroke.

From The Daily Beast

At no time during the shoot was Viscount Severn directly in front of the Earl of Wessex.

From The Daily Beast

The old earl's property, the source of his wealth, as from his title the reader will have shrewdly guessed, was in collieries.

From Project Gutenberg

With the management of these, however, the Earl of Pit Town did not trouble himself.

From Project Gutenberg

He saw with evident pleasure the outward and visible signs of the old earl's immense wealth.

From Project Gutenberg

Edmund de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, on account of his near relationship to the house of York, beheaded.

From Project Gutenberg

On joining the earl, father and son met as if they had parted only the previous day.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• aristocrat
• blue blood
• emperor
• patrician