Earl
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia · John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
In English Law. A title of nobility next below a marquis and above a viscount Earls were anciently called comites, because they ment of a shire. After the Norman conquest they were called counts, whence the shires obtained the names of counties. They have now nothing to do with the government of counties, their duties having devolved on the sheriff, the earl's deputy, or vicecomes.
1 Bla. Com. 398.