earl English · revision 7243

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=?a616|origins=gem-pro *erlaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɜːl/ ''(UK)''; /ɝl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English erl, [[inh|ang|eorl|t=brave man, warrior; nobleman]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*erlaz]],^(Etymonline) source also of Old Saxon and Old High German erl, man, nobleman, Old Norse [[m|non|jarl|t=chieftain, nobleman]] (see [[jarl]]) and runic Norse erilaR,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) of unknown or uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A man of noble rank as opposed to a [[churl]], an ordinary freeman: perhaps before 616 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English poetry it meant a warrior or brave man.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In late Old English it was a Danish under-king, and under Cnut and his successors the governor of a large division of England (about 906).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) After 1066 it was adopted as the equivalent of Latin comes, a [[count]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and in Britain it became the title of a rank of the peerage between marquess and viscount (before 1123).^(OED 1989)^(AHD) ''Earl Grey'' tea, a Chinese tea flavoured with bergamot, is from the 1880s, supposedly from a recipe given to the second Earl Grey in the 1830s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * ?a616 – a nobleman.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 906 – a Danish under-king.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1123 – a rank of the peerage.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1880s – Earl Grey tea.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A British [[nobleman]] ranking above a viscount and below a [[marquess]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[earldom]]

+ * [[earlship]]

+ * [[earl marshal]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[jarl]]

+ * [[churl]]

+ * [[count]]

+ * [[countess]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}