The wife of an earl in the British peerage, or of a count in the Continental nobility; also, a lady possessed of the same dignity in her own right. See the Note under Count.

The wife of an earl in England. The Saxon earl who, along with the sheriff, ran the shire in pre Norman England kept his title when the Normans changed the ‘shiresâ€(tm) to ‘countiesâ€(tm). His wife, however, became a countess.

female equivalent of a count or earl

title A title in the greater nobility. In principle a count hereditarily owns and administers a county -- a big chunk of a city-state. There are eight land-owning counts in Vheshrame. Occasionally other extremely important people get the title, and pass it to their descendants; there are three such in Vheshrame.

1) wife or widow of a count or earl. 2) woman holding the rank or grade of count or earl in her own right.