Count
Count (male) or Countess (female) is a title in European countries for a noble of varying status, but historically deemed to convey an approximate rank intermediate between the highest and lowest titles of nobility. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is "comital". The British and Irish equivalent is an earl (whose wife is a "countess", for lack of an English term). Alternative names for the "Count" rank in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as Graf in Germany and Hakushaku during the Japanese Imperial era.
Read more about Count.
Famous quotes containing the word count:
“Do you know what we are ... those of us who count as pillars of society? We are society’s tools, neither more nor less.”
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)
“I wish to say that, in so far as I can, I hope to promote the enactment of further legislation of this character.
There’s nothing else one can say about me—I’m superfluous, in a word. A supernumerary—that’s all. Nature evidently didn’t count on my appearance, and consequently treated me as an unexpected, uninvited guest.”
—Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818–1883)
“Each say following another, either hastening or putting off our death—what pleasure does it bring? I count that man worthless who is cheered by empty hopes. No, a noble man must either live or die well.”
—Sophocles (497–406/5 B.C.)