Meanings
- not comparableuncommonOf or pertaining to a count.
In the course of the next three hundred years a great number of illustrious princely and countly houses died out; […]
1879, S[abine] Baring-Gould, “The Upper Nobility”, in Germany Present and Past, volume 1, London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., page 112 more examples
[T]he old republic sold titles for a pittance to whoever could pay for them, though such a person might not even have had the education of a gentleman. […] It was natural, therefore, that a lord of Crema should fear being confounded with this countly canaglia, and sink his having any thing in common with such a crew.
1854, Lord Byron, “Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice; An Historical Tragedy, in Five Acts. [Appendix]”, in The Poetical Works of Lord Byron, volume 6, London: John Murray, page 229The countly finances came again into their former state; the tournaments ceased; knights and varlets disappeared; the castle became again a hermitage; and the countly family once more returned to its frugal meals of boiled potatoes.
1877, Marie Pabke, Margery Deane, “Reinald, the Wonder-Child: Or, The Chronicles of the Three Sisters.”, in Wonder-World Stories from the Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindoostanee, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Swedish, and Turkish, page 76
Origin
Cite this entry
countly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countly
“countly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “countly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/countly.
Source: countly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.