earl:

(plural: ‘earls‘; female: ‘countess’; )

the Earl of Sandwich

(in British English) a noble man of high rank;

(in Anglo-Saxon England) a governor of a large division of England

The list showing the order of the peerage, the order of social rank other than the true royal family, 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.

The word ‘earl’ is also used in slang usage (as an onomatopoetic word, i.e. a name given to something depending on the sound of it) to refer to somebody vomiting/throwing up. A sentence from ‘Dictionary.com’: Who’s earling in the john? = earling = vomiting; the john, with small letter ‘j’, = toilet.

the present Earl of Wessex with his wife

For an article that explains what an earl is, please click here and for an item of news that shows us how we come across this word in our daily readings, please click here. For an article that shows how ‘earl’ is used in the computer world, please click here.

Note: ‘Earl’, always with a capital ‘E’, is often found in people’s names, e.g. Earl Grace, James Earl Ray, Scott Earl, etc. For an article that gives us the origin of this word as a name, please click here.

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