Countess

//ˈkaʊntɪs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The wife of a count or earl.
  2. 2
    Alternative letter-case form of countess. alt-of
  3. 3
    female equivalent of a count or earl wordnet
  4. 4
    A woman holding the rank of count or earl in her own right; a female holder of an earldom.

    "Elizabeth Millicent Leveson-Gower is 24th Countess of Sutherland; her son will be the 25th Earl."

Example

More examples

"Kate Middleton is now Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus, Master of Arts."

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman cuntesse, Old French contesse, from Latin comitissa; equivalent to count + -ess. Doublet of contessa.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.