From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcountesscoun‧tess /ˈkaʊntɪs/ noun [countable] PGa woman with the same rank as an earl or a count2(9)
Examples from the Corpus
countess• Few people watching the tearful, scruffily-dressed woman burst through the court doors to freedom would have recognised her as a countess.• The wife of an earl is a countess, and if that earl dies his wife becomes the Dowager Lady Blank.• Now she knew why he was consorting with a countess.• Allie Byrne gives an enjoyable performance as the cool countess who is attracted to Viola now known as Caesario.• They, together with the custody of the young earl, were given to the dowager countess and so remained under Herbert control.• There was only a call from Titi, the resident countess, inviting him for cocktails that afternoon.• The story concerns a wealthy countess who creates a fictional fianc e to avoid the fellows hitting on her.Origin countess (1100-1200) Old French contesse, from Medieval Latin comitissa, from Latin comes; → COUNT2 