Jarl

//jɑɹl̩// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A medieval Scandinavian nobleman, especially in Norway and Denmark. historical

    "There were three kinds of Viking: thralls, karls and jarls. Thralls were the slaves. They were owned by karls and jarls."

Example

More examples

"There were three kinds of Viking: thralls, karls and jarls. Thralls were the slaves. They were owned by karls and jarls."

Etymology

From Old Norse jarl, from Proto-Norse ᛖᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (erilaʀ). Cognates include Old English eorl. Doublet of earl and eorl.

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