From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishearlearl /ɜːl $ ɜːrl/ noun [countable] PGa man with a high social rank the Earl of Warwick
Examples from the Corpus
earl• The main beneficiary in both cases was the head of the family, Anthony earl Rivers.• It arose from the recent conquest of the northern coastal area as far as Anglesey by his friend Hugh, earl of Chester.• The major landowners were the duchy of York, with which Gloucester had no formal connection, and the earls of Shrewsbury.• Eventually, in January 1989, she was awarded custody of their daughters and the earl was granted access.• But in a wider context Gloucester failed to establish himself as the heir of the earls of Oxford.• Nor was Gloucester's northern connection ever just that of the earl of Warwick.• The earl, so Sir Philip informed me, is greatly attached to your boy.Origin earl Old English eorl 