# earl

Pronunciation: say "URL" US /ɝl/, UK /ɜːl/

## Noun

1. A British or Irish nobleman ranking just above a viscount and below a marquess, equivalent to a European count; a woman who bears the title is a countess.
   - Simple: A British or Irish nobleman of high rank, like a count in other European countries.
   - _The earl inherited the castle and its lands when his father died._
   - _Her grandfather was made an earl for his services to the Crown._
2. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Tanaecia, whose other members are called counts and viscounts.
   - Simple: A kind of butterfly from a group whose other members are called counts and viscounts.
   - _We photographed an earl sunning itself on a leaf at the edge of the rainforest trail._
   - _The museum drawer held several earls pinned beside their close relatives, the counts and viscounts._

## Origin

From Middle English erl, erle, from Old English eorl, which goes back through Proto-West Germanic *erl to Proto-Germanic *erlaz (compare Old Saxon erl, Old Norse jarl), from Proto-Germanic *erōną, *arōną (compare Old Norse jara, “fight, battle”). It is a doublet of eorl and jarl, and is unrelated to ealdorman (“alderman”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/earl (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).