Earl

Earl [fr. eorl, Sax.; eoryl, Erse; comes, Lat.], a title of nobility, formerly the highest in England, now the third, ranking between a marquis and a viscount, and corresponding with the French Comte and the German Graf. The title originated with the Saxons, and is the most ancient of the English peerage. William the Conqueror first made it hereditary. An earl has an hereditary seat in the House of Lords. In official instruments he is called by the sovereign 'trusty and well-beloved cousin,' an appellation as ancient as the reign of Henry IV., who was, as a fact, related to the greater part of the nobles (see Shakespeare's Henry IV., Second Part, Act 2, sc. 2), and took this public notice of it as a means of popularity.

A title of nobility, formerly the highest in England but now the third highest ranking between marquis and a viscount, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 525.

Earl, is the third degree of peerage in order of precedence, but the first in antiquity. (Cruise on Dignities (2nd Edn.) CIS 55: Co Rep 499, see also Halsbury's Laws of England (35), para 903, p. 905.