Comtes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term used to refer to noblemen, specifically counts in the French nobility system
2. It designates an individual who holds the title equivalent to a count, typically overseeing a county
3. The word can denote members of the aristocracy within the context of French history and governance

Etymology: "Comtes" is simply the plural of "comte," the French word for a count, the noble rank that sits below a marquis and above a vicomte. English took the singular from French, so the plural here refers to several French counts, as in a phrase like "les comtes de Champagne" (the counts of Champagne). The singular traces back to the same ancestor as the English "count," and the two are doublets: separate descendants of one Latin word, "comes," meaning "companion" or "attendant." In the Roman Empire a "comes" was a member of the imperial entourage, and the title drifted over the centuries into a rank of nobility as the Frankish and French kingdoms developed. The Latin form also gave English "count" and the rarer "conte," and the three forms show how one word split as it passed through different spoken languages.

Synonyms: counts, earls, nobles, lords

Antonyms: commoners, peasants