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# earl

«earl» in Mova's school dictionary: **A British nobleman of high rank, below a marquess and…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (an earl, earls)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A British nobleman of high rank, below a marquess and above a viscount. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#m1)

2) (history) In early England, a powerful lord who ruled a large area for the king. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

Met in history lessons on the Middle Ages, castles and kings, and in stories of the British upper class. An earl's wife is a countess. The ranks from top are: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, baron. Earl is also a man's name.

### examples

- The earl lived in a huge castle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#x1)
- Harold was Earl of Wessex before he became king. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#x2)
- An earl's wife is called a countess. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#x3)
- The Earl of Sandwich is said to have given the sandwich its name. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#x4)
- The earl owned all the land around the village. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#x5)
- Earl is also a first name, as in Earl Grey tea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#x6)
- One fine summer's day Earl Mar's daughter went into the castle garden, dancing and tripping along. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/#x7)

### note

Use «an earl» (starts with a vowel sound). Capital E in titles: the Earl of Essex. There is no «earless»: the female equivalent is countess. The word came from Old English «eorl», a warrior or nobleman.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «earl» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/earl/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.