Earldom

//ˈəɹldəm// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The rank of being an earl.

    "And, look when I am king, claim thou of me / The earldom of Hereford, and all the movables / Whereof the king my brother was possess'd."

  2. 2
    the domain controlled by an earl or count or countess wordnet
  3. 3
    The territory controlled by an earl.
  4. 4
    the dignity or rank or position of an earl or countess wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
allybody politicbuffer statechieftaincycity statecolony

Example

More examples

"And, look when I am king, claim thou of me / The earldom of Hereford, and all the movables / Whereof the king my brother was possess'd."

Etymology

From Middle English erldom, from Old English eorldōm, equivalent to earl + -dom. Compare English jarldom. Cognate also with Scots eirldome, ȝerledom, erldom (“earldom”).

More for "earldom"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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