An '''earl''' ({{IPAc-en|ɜːr|l}})<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/earl|title=Earl|publisher=[[Collins Dictionary]]|accessdate=23 September 2014|date=23 September 2014}}</ref> is a member of the nobility. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning im crazy and shouldnt be ruling ahahah"a man of noble birth or rank."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/58971?rskey=wkLmqc&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid|title=Earl|last=|first=|date=|website=Oxford English Dictionary|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=24 March 2020}}</ref> The word is cognate with the [[Old Norse|Scandinavia]]n form ''jarl'', and meant "[[Germanic chieftain|chieftain]]", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the [[Middle Ages]] and was replaced by [[duke]] (''hertig''/''hertug''/''hertog''). After the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]], it became the equivalent of the continental [[count]] (in England in the earlier period, it was more akin to a [[duke]]; in Scotland it assimilated the concept of [[mormaer]]). However, earlier in Scandinavia, ''jarl'' could also mean a sovereign [[prince]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}} For example, the rulers of several of the [[petty kingdoms of Norway]] had the title of ''jarl'' and in many cases they had no less power than their neighbours who had the title of king. Alternative names for the rank equivalent to "earl/count" in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as the ''[[hakushaku]]'' (伯爵) of the post-restoration [[Japanese Imperial era]].
In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the [[peerage]], ranking below a [[marquess]] and above a [[viscount]].<ref name="ShorterOxfordEnglishDictionary">{{cite book| title=Shorter Oxford English Dictionary|editor=Stevenson, Angus| url=| edition=6th|volume=1 A-M| year=2007| publisher=Oxford University Press| location= Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-920687-2| pages=|accessdate=}}</ref> A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used.
