count:
(short form: Ct. used before the name of a noble man, e.g. “Ct. Alex De Lesseps”; plural: ‘counts‘; the female is ‘countess’; pronunciation: the letter ‘c’ is said with a ‘k’ sound)
the title of a European nobleman which is equivalent to the British (English) rank of ‘Earl’;
(in Roman Catholic Church) a man who has received the honour of Papal Knighthood from the Pope,
a French count in the past
The Count of Monte Cristo and Count Dracula are the two most popular characters found in the novels and films.
Count Alex De Lesseps is the son of Count Ferdinand De Lesseps who was connected with the Suez Canal construction, and these days Count Alex De Lesseps has become popular because he’s divorced his wife ‘Countess Launn De Lesseps’ who is best known for her role in an American TV show.
Most of the European countries have abolished their noble titles, including the title ‘count’, which means that these title holders do not have any legal rights and privileges as their grandfathers had; however, an individual title holder can keep the title and use it for social activities, such as balls, dinners, club membership, fundraising for charity, etc.
The list showing the order of the peerage, the order of social rank other than the true royal family, i.e. kings and queens, in Europe:
Male ________________ female
duke duchess
marquess/marquis marchioness
earl countess
count countess
viscount viscountess
baron baroness
baronet
*A ‘peer’, in this context, is a noble man of high social rank; and a ‘peeress’ is a noble woman of high social rank.
present day count & countess --- Count Alex De Lesseps & Countess Launn De Lesseps (now divorced)
for a blog post that discusses the health problem of a count and his countess, please click here,
for an interesting article on how to get a noble title, please click here,
and for a gossip blog post about Count Alex De Lesseps and his new girlfriend, please click here.
