earl

plural earls

1. governmentA British or Irish nobleman next in rank above a viscount and below a marquess; equivalent to a European count. A female using the style is termed a countess.
2. biologyAny of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Tanaecia. Other butterflies in this genus are called counts and viscounts.

plural Earls

1. The title of an earl.

   And therefore the Bishop and clergy of Man were totally powerless to resist the alteration of doctrinal articles and rites of worship which Earls Edward and Henry, between 1521 and 1594, following the edicts of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth, introduced into the Isle of Man.

   1860, William Mackenzie, editor, Legislation by Three of the Thirteen Stanleys, Kings of Man. […], Douglas, Isle of Man: […] [T]he Manx Society, page 191

1. USA male given name from English from the English noun earl.

   - - - in a world of mandatory diminutives, a corporation of jolly Bills and Jacks and Herbs and Teds in which an unabbreviable given name like Earl must have been a minor handicap, "Oat" was the best that could be done for a man with the given name of Otis.

   1961, Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road, Vintage Contemporaries, published 2000, →ISBN, page 74

   1 more example

   "Of course Gladys and Eleanor, having graced the last generation of heroines and being at present in their social prime, will be passed on to the next generation of shopgirls -" "Displacing Ella and Stella," interrupted Dick. "And Pearl and Jewel,", Gloria added cordially, " and Earl and Elmer and Minnie."

   1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, (please specify |book=1, 2, or 3)

2. A surname originating as an occupation for service in the household of an earl, or from a nickname.

   The sheriff’s office released a compilation of bodycam footage Friday from deputies at the scene that shows them handcuffing Earl and pinning him down for more than 20 minutes as he struggles and repeatedly shouts for help.

   2024 September 30, Chelsea Bailey, “‘Take his pulse, he’s blue’: Bodycam footage shows fatal encounter between epileptic Indiana man and first responders”, in CNN

3. A female given name.
4. A number of places in the United States:
   1. An unincorporated community in Las Animas County, Colorado.
   2. An unincorporated community in Callaway County, Missouri.
   3. A town in Cleveland County, North Carolina.
   4. An unincorporated community in Springbrook, Washburn County, Wisconsin.