What does earl mean?

Definitions for earl
ɜrlearl

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word earl.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. earlnoun

    a British peer ranking below a marquess and above a viscount

Wiktionary

  1. earlnoun

    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.

  2. Earlnoun

    The title of an earl.

  3. Earlnoun

    from the English noun earl.

  4. Earlnoun

    for service in the household of an earl, or from a nickname.

  5. Etymology: 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').

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. EARLnoun

    A title of nobility, anciently the highest of this nation, now the third.

    Etymology: eorl, Saxon; eoryl, Erse.

    Thanes and kinsmen, Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland
    For such an honour nam’d. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

Wikipedia

  1. Earl

    Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word eorl, meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. After the Norman Conquest, it became the equivalent of the continental count (in England in the earlier period, it was more akin to a duke; in Scotland, it assimilated the concept of mormaer). Alternative names for the rank equivalent to "earl" or "count" in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as the hakushaku (伯爵) of the post-restoration Japanese Imperial era. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of earl never developed; instead, countess is used.

ChatGPT

  1. earl

    An earl is a rank of nobility in the British hierarchical system, traditionally associated with the feudal system, ranking below a marquis and above a viscount. Earls have often been associated with specific regions or territories, known as earldoms. The female equivalent of an earl is a countess.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Earlnoun

    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

  2. Earlnoun

    the needlefish

  3. Etymology: [OE. eorl, erl, AS. eorl man, noble; akin to OS. erl boy, man, Icel. jarl nobleman, count, and possibly to Gr. male, Zend arshan man. Cf. Jarl.]

Wikidata

  1. Earl

    An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke. In later medieval Britain, it became the equivalent of the continental count. However, earlier in Scandinavia jarl could also mean sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty kingdoms of Norway had in fact the title of jarl and in many cases of no lesser power than their neighbours who had the title of king. Alternative names for the "Earl/Count" rank in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as Hakushaku during the Japanese Imperial era. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above viscount. There never developed a feminine form of earl; countess is used as the equivalent feminine title.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. 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."

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz

  1. EARL

    A title of nobility. EARLY A title of stupidity. See old saw, "Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man a farmer!"

Suggested Resources

  1. earl

    Song lyrics by earl -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by earl on the Lyrics.com website.

  2. EARL

    What does EARL stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the EARL acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. EARL

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Earl is ranked #2270 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Earl surname appeared 16,027 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 would have the surname Earl.

    72.3% or 11,596 total occurrences were White.
    21.3% or 3,423 total occurrences were Black.
    2.7% or 434 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    2.1% or 343 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.7% or 117 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    0.7% or 114 total occurrences were Asian.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'earl' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4013

  2. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'earl' in Nouns Frequency: #1608

Anagrams for earl »

  1. lare

  2. lear

  3. rale

  4. real

  5. eral

How to pronounce earl?

How to say earl in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of earl in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of earl in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of earl in a Sentence

  1. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle:

    Eula and I are praying for the family of Officer Keith Earl and everyone in Huntsville Police Department. We offer our deepest condolences as our community mourns his loss and remembers his service.

  2. Helena Earl:

    Joseph Sparano said. The TAILORx study was n’t the only breakthrough research on breast cancer that was presented at ASCO. Dr. Helena Earl, a professor from the University of Cambridge in Britain, looked at whether women with HER-2 positive early-stage breast cancer could be treated with the drug Herceptin for 6 months instead of 12. Though Herceptin has improved survival and recurrence rates for over a decade in breast cancer patients, the drug is associated with a risk for heart damage in long-term users. When Herceptin was first introduced the 12-month period was almost plucked out of the air and there was n’t any evidence of how long you woud need to carry on with a targeted treatment to get the effect.

  3. Kensington Palace:

    The Queen has today been pleased to confer a Dukedom on Prince Henry of Wales, his titles will be Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel. Prince Harry thus becomes His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex, and Ms. Meghan Markle on marriage will become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.

  4. Granger Smith:

    Every aspect of Earl grew organically by listening to the fans and what they said they wanted.

  5. Michael Learned:

    When people say, ‘I wish you had been my mom,’ it always makes me feel a little sad, olivia was a fictional character. We all wish she had been our mother. I tried to get [producer] Earl Hammer to let her make mistakes because all mothers do at times.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

earl#1#7954#10000

Translations for earl

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for earl »

Translation

Find a translation for the earl definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"earl." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/earl>.

Discuss these earl definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for earl? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    earl

    Credit »

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    indecision in speech or action
    A anil
    B wavering
    C snap
    D nitrile

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for earl: