Standard Lemma guide

countess

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈkaʊntɪs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AW1 N T AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The wife of a count or earl.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A woman holding the rank of count or earl in her own right; a female holder of an earldom.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Elizabeth Millicent Leveson-Gower is 24th Countess of Sutherland; her son will be the 25th Earl.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Alternative letter-case form of countess.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

female equivalent of a count or earl

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Lady, noblewoman, peeress

History

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman cuntesse, Old French contesse, from Latin comitissa; equivalent to count + -ess. Doublet of contessa.

Across languages

Translations

57 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: կոմսուհի (komsuhi) — wife of a count or earl
  • Azerbaijani: qrafinya — wife of a count or earl
  • Belarusian: графі́ня (hrafínja) — wife of a count or earl
  • Belarusian: грапі́ня (hrapínja) — wife of a count or earl
  • Breton: kontez — wife of a count or earl
  • Bulgarian: графи́ня (grafínja) — wife of a count or earl
  • Catalan: comtessa — wife of a count or earl
  • Chinese Mandarin: 伯爵夫人 (bójué fūrén) — wife of a count or earl
  • Czech: hraběnka — wife of a count or earl
  • Danish: grevinde — wife of a count or earl
  • Dutch: gravin — wife of a count or earl
  • Esperanto: grafino — wife of a count or earl
  • Finnish: kreivitär — wife of a count or earl
  • French: comtesse — wife of a count or earl
  • Old French: contesse — wife of a count or earl
  • Galician: condesa — wife of a count or earl
  • German: Gräfin — wife of a count or earl
  • Greek: κόμισσα (kómissa) — wife of a count or earl
  • Hawaiian: kauna wahine — wife of a count or earl
  • Hawaiian: kaunakeke — wife of a count or earl
  • Hebrew: רוזנת — wife of a count or earl
  • Hungarian: grófnő — wife of a count or earl
  • Icelandic: greifafrú — wife of a count or earl
  • Icelandic: greifynja — wife of a count or earl
  • Icelandic: jarlsfrú — wife of a count or earl
  • Irish: cuntaois — wife of a count or earl
  • Italian: contessa — wife of a count or earl
  • Japanese: 伯爵婦人 (hakushaku fujin) — wife of a count or earl
  • Latin: comitessa — wife of a count or earl
  • Latin: cometissa — wife of a count or earl
  • Latin: cometessa — wife of a count or earl
  • Latin: comitissa — wife of a count or earl
  • Latvian: grāfiene — wife of a count or earl
  • Lithuanian: grafienė — wife of a count or earl
  • Macedonian: грофица (grofica) — wife of a count or earl
  • Marathi: काउन्टेस (kāunṭes) — wife of a count or earl
  • Norwegian Bokmål: grevinne — wife of a count or earl
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: grevinne — wife of a count or earl
  • Polish: hrabina — wife of a count or earl
  • Portuguese: condessa — wife of a count or earl
  • Romanian: contesă — wife of a count or earl
  • Russian: графи́ня (grafínja) — wife of a count or earl
  • Scottish Gaelic: ban-iarla — wife of a count or earl
  • Serbo-Croatian: грофица — wife of a count or earl
  • Serbo-Croatian: grofica — wife of a count or earl
  • Sicilian: cuntissa — wife of a count or earl
  • Slovak: grófka — wife of a count or earl
  • Slovene: grofica — wife of a count or earl
  • Spanish: condesa — wife of a count or earl
  • Swedish: grevinna — wife of a count or earl
  • Tagalog: kondesa — wife of a count or earl
  • Turkish: kontes — wife of a count or earl
  • Ukrainian: графи́ня (hrafýnja) — wife of a count or earl
  • Uzbek: grafinya — wife of a count or earl
  • Vietnamese: bá tước phu nhân — wife of a count or earl
  • Yiddish: גראַפֿין (grafin) — wife of a count or earl
  • Yiddish: גראַפֿיניע (grafinye) — wife of a count or earl
Real reading context

countess in complete knowledge articles