An earl has the title Earl of [X] when the title originates from a placename, or Earl [X] when the title comes from a surname. In either case, he is referred to as Lord [X], and his wife as Lady [X].
There is no female styling of “earl,” and, because the rank corresponds to the French comte or German Graf (count), a woman who holds the rank, or the wife of an earl, is styled “countess.”
Historically, an earl was the ruler of a county or earldom, but the title is now primarily ceremonial. In the U.K., there are currently around 190 earls. The Earl of Wessex is the highest-ranking earl in the peerage system. He’s also second in line to the British throne.
Known as the peerage system, this noble hierarchy consists of five ranks today: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron. The title of earl — the oldest in the peerage system — dates back to the end of the early medieval period, during the reign of King Canute (or Cnut) in the 11th century.
EARL definition: 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. See examples of earl used in a sentence.
When a duke or a marquess has an earldom as his second title, this is ‘by courtesy’ given to his eldest son: thus the heir of the Duke of Northumberland is Earl Percy while that of the Marquess of Winchester is the Earl of Wiltshire.
She delivers pots of hot water to the freezing elderly earl and countess who reside upstairs in a fantasy world peopled with imaginary housemaids and butlers. A waiter stopped by to offer the earl a crumpet. The earl's descendants have been putting it back together ever since.