- a British nobleman of a rank below that of marquis and above that of viscount: called count for a time after the Norman conquest. The wife of an earl is a countess.
- (in Anglo-Saxon England) a governor of one of the great divisions of England, including East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, and Wessex.
- a male given name: from the old English word meaning “noble.”
- (in the British Isles) a nobleman ranking below a marquess and above a viscount
- (in Anglo-Saxon England) a royal governor of any of the large divisions of the kingdom, such as Wessex
