earldom

American  

[url-duhm] / ˈɜrl dəm /

noun

1. Also called earlship.  the rank or title of an earl.

2. the territory or jurisdiction of an earl.

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ˈearldom British  

/ ˈɜːldəm /

noun

1. the rank, title, or dignity of an earl or countess

2. the lands of an earl or countess

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Etymology

Origin of earldom

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

Example Sentences

He gave up an inherited earldom in 1994 in order to keep voting in the Commons.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2023

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

Later, promoted to his earldom, he remarried without telling them.

From The Guardian • Aug. 26, 2017

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

The garter is a rag; the earldom is a word; the lordship is the right to have your head cut off.

From The Dramas of Victor Hugo: Mary Tudor, Marion de Lorme, Esmeralda by Hugo, Victor