▪ I. countess
(ˈkaʊntɪs)
Forms: 2–5 cuntesse, 3 -asse, contesse, -as, 3–4 contasse, 4 countas, cuntas, 4–5 countes(e, 4–7 -esse, (5 cowntasse, cunttass, cowntyse), 6– countess. Also 5 cometas, comytiss.
[a. OF. cuntesse, contesse:—late L. comitissa, fem. of comes, comit-em: see count n.2 and -ess. In 13th c. F. partially assimilated to L. as comtesse; the same influence produced the occasional 15th c. Eng. comytiss, cometas.]
1. The feminine of count n.2 a. The wife or widow of a count. b. In the peerage of Great Britain and Ireland, the wife or widow of an earl. c. A lady holding a position in her own right equal to that of a count or earl.
Besides being the proper feminine answering to the English earl, the word is used like count n.2 to translate the cognate Romanic words, and also the German Gräfin and its cognates in Du., Da., etc.
| 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 1140 Þe kinges dohter Henries, þe hefde ben Emperice in Alamanie & nu wæs cuntesse in Angou. c 1230 Hali Meid. 9 Aske þes cwenes, þes riche cuntasses. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 157 Ygerne, Gorloys wyf..þat was contasse of Cornewail. Ibid. 510 The contesse Isabel, that therl mareschales douȝter was, To Gilebred, Erl of Gloucestre, ispoused was. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 189 Countas of Marche was sche. c 1450 in Wr.-Wülcker 691 Hec comitissa, comytiss. c 1475 Ibid. 792/6 Hec cometissa, cometas. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. 221 Prince Edward weddid Jone, the cuntesse of Kent. 1474 Caxton Chesse 103 Quenes, duchesses, countesses and alle other ladyes. c 1500 Melusine 35 Specyally the Countesse, the said Erlis wyf. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. ii. 1 Were not you euen now, with the Countesse Oliuia? 1706–43 Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. 179 The King..may, and often hath created Women to be Baronesses, Countesses, Dutchesses, and the like. Ibid. 180 The Lady Mary Compton, in King James the Firsts Time, was made Countess of Buckingham for Life. 1764 A. Maclaine tr. Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. iii. xi. ii. §16 The sanctimonious pontiff resided at that time with the young Mathilda, countess of Tuscany. 1892 Standard 26 May 3/3 The guests comprised..Earl and Countess Waldegrave, the Earl and Countess of Gosford..the Dowager Countess of Mayo. |
2. A middle size of roofing slate.
| 1803 Sporting Mag. XXII. 109 He had delivered..eight thousand Countesses and eleven thousand Ladies. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 395 The Welsh slates are generally classed in the following order:—Ladies 1 ft. 3 in. by 8 in.; Countesses 1 ft. 8 in. by 10 in.; Duchesses 2 ft. by 1 ft. 1840 Marryat Olla Podr. (Rtldg.) 256 Countesses are very light, and the wind gets under them. 1883 Birmingh. Weekly Post 1 Sept. 1/4 The disturbed slates rattled down on every side, regardless of the precedence in order of rank to which they were soon introduced as ‘ladies’, ‘countesses’, or ‘duchesses’, according to their merits. |
Hence ˈcountessship, the quality, position, or personality of a countess.
| 1612 Chapman Widowes T. in Dodsley (1780) VI. 140 To see with what alacrity I'll accost her Countessship. 1874 Trollope Lady Anna ii. 16 If the countess-ship of the countess were to be admitted. |
▪ II. ˈcountess, v. nonce-wd.
[f. prec.]
trans. To make (any one) a countess.
| a 1785 Walpole Lett. to Mann (F. Hall), Countessed. 1861 G. Meredith E. Harrington II. ix. 153 She's grown since she's been countessed, and does it peacocky. |