Definitions for EARLɜrl

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

earlɜrl(n.)

a British nobleman of a rank below that of marquis and above that of viscount: called a count for a time after the Norman Conquest. The wife of an earl is a countess.
Category: Western History

Origin of earl:

bef. 900; ME erl, OE eorl; c. OS, OHG erl man, ON jarl chieftain

Princeton's WordNet

earl(noun)
a British peer ranking below a marquess and above a viscount

Wiktionary

earl(Noun)
A British nobleman next in rank above a viscount and below a marquess; equivalent to a European count. A female using the style is termed a countess.
Earl(ProperNoun)
The title of an earl.
Earl(ProperNoun)
from the English noun earl.
Earl(ProperNoun)
for service in the household of an earl, or from a nickname.

Origin: erl, from eorl, from irilaz, arilaz (compare jarl, Old Saxon/ erl), from erōnan, arōnan (compare jara 'fight, battle'), from h₁er- (compare orior 'to rise, get up', órnēmi 'to urge, incite', ərənaoiti 'to move', ṛṇóti 'to arise, reach, move, attack').

Webster Dictionary

Earl(noun)
a nobleman of England ranking below a marquis, and above a viscount. The rank of an earl corresponds to that of a count (comte) in France, and graf in Germany. Hence the wife of an earl is still called countess. See Count
Earl(noun)
the needlefish

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

Earl
a title of nobility, ranking third in the British peerage; originally election to the dignity of earl carried with it a grant of land held in feudal tenure, the discharge of judicial and administrative duties connected therewith, and was the occasion of a solemn service of investiture. In course of time the title lost its official character, and since the reign of Queen Anne all ceremony of investiture has been dispensed with, the title being conferred by letters-patent. The word is derived from the Anglo-Saxon eorls which signified the "gentle folk," as distinguished from the ceorls, the "churls" or "simple folk."