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Viscount

 - 3 dictionary results

vis⋅count

  [vahy-kount]
Use Viscount in a Sentence
–noun
1. a nobleman next below an earl or count and next above a baron.
2. History/Historical. a deputy of a count or earl.
3. (in England) a sheriff.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME viscounte < AF; OF visconte (F vicomte), equiv. to vis vice 3 + counte count 2 , trans. ML vicecomes
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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vis·count   (vī'kount')   
n.  

  1. A nobleman ranking below an earl or count and above a baron.

  2. Abbr. Visct. or Vis. or V. Used as a title for such a nobleman.


[Middle English, from Old French visconte, from Medieval Latin vicecomes, vicecomit- : Late Latin vice-, vice- + Late Latin comes, occupant of any state office; see count2.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

viscount 
1387, "deputy of a count or earl," from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. visconte, from M.L. vicecomes (gen. vicecomitis), from L.L. vice- "deputy" (see vice-) + L. comes "member of an imperial court, nobleman" (see count (n.)). As a rank in British peerage, first recorded 1440, when John, Baron Beaumont, was made one by Henry VI.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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