earldom

[url-duh m]

noun

Also called earlship. the rank or title of an earl.
the territory or jurisdiction of an earl.

Origin of earldom

before 1150; Middle English erldom, Old English eorldōm. See earl, -dom,

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for earldom

Historical Examples of earldom

It will be time enough to think about it if he comes again now he has got the earldom.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
He was the heir to the earldom, for the earl had never married.
The Christian
Hall Caine
In the play as in history, Charles now confers upon Wentworth an Earldom.
Browning's England
Helen Archibald Clarke
I am Earl Inewl, but I have lost the lands that made my earldom.
King Arthur's Knights
Henry Gilbert
Drummond, a claimant of the honours and estates of the Earldom of Perth.
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745
Mrs. Thomson

British Dictionary definitions for earldom

earldom

noun

the rank, title, or dignity of an earl or countess
the lands of an earl or countess

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for earldom

early 12c., from earl + -dom.