earl
noun
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.
earl
1 American
[url]
/ ɜrl /
noun
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earls
plural
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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.
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(in Anglo-Saxon England) a governor of one of the great divisions of England, including East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, and Wessex.
Earl
2
American
[url]
/ ɜrl /
Or
Earle
noun
earl
British
/ ɜːl /
noun
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Female equivalent: countess. (in the British Isles) a nobleman ranking below a marquess and above a viscount
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(in Anglo-Saxon England) a royal governor of any of the large divisions of the kingdom, such as Wessex
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of earl
before 900; Middle English erl, Old English eorl; cognate with Old Saxon erl man, Old Norse jarl chieftain
Explanation
An earl is a member of the British nobility. An earl is ranked above a viscount or a baron, in case you know those titles. Earl certainly carries more clout than "Mister"! One of the ceremonial titles given to noblemen in the United Kingdom is earl. Being an earl used to come with a great deal of power and control over a certain region, including the authority to pass judgment in courts of law. While it's still prestigious to be an earl, there's less actual power involved in the position. The word itself comes from the Old English word eorl, "brave man, warrior, leader, or chief."
Vocabulary lists containing earl
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.
See Examples For:
Spencer—an earl, historian and former NBC journalist—in his book “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” has again swung the spotlight back to that difficult time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
"It's in the context of a conversation where Diana is telling me that her marriage is over," the earl replied.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Soon after, the earl says he took a call from Prince Charles, who asked him about his opposition to it.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Similarly, the earl of Peterborough's son refused both to remove his hat and to enter a plea when tried for treason in 1658.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026
Her inheritance wouldn’t be worth much, whether or not the earl married.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
John Nichols, a former accountant, and his son Larry, a former law clerk to Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, founded Devon in 1971.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
The photographs of Princess Diana mentioned in relation to Morgan in Earl Spencer's book were published by the Sunday Mirror on 7 November 1993.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Earl Spencer will ultimately be remembered by the passionate eulogy he delivered at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Earl Spencer describes his opposition to the boys having to walk behind the coffin at their mother's funeral - and he talks of "how tiny, and slight, and bereft, Harry looked".
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Ma simply got up to pick up the pieces of the clock she’d been fixing for Earl Baker.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
We may not be earls or billionaires, but we can eat like them.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2025
Its inhabitants are those of “there will always be an England” England: stern vicars, timid curates, lords and earls, penniless titled wastrels living on allowances from their uncles, imperious aunts, upper-crust twits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
The tradition caught on and English colleges became diploma mills for earls and barons who never cracked a book or scribbled on parchment in their storied halls.
From Washington Times ● May 9, 2018
The list was spattered with landowners, containing 11 dukes, six marquises, 14 earls and nine viscounts.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2013
If this ex- panded idea of freedom spread, how safe were the kings and dukes, earls and knights, of England?
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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.
