Jarldoms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The lands, titles or territories held under the rank of an earl in medieval or later European nobility
2. Domains governed by an earl, or the dignity and rank that an earl holds over them
3. Earldoms, the estates and office of earls, once ruled by a jarl among Scandinavian nobles

Etymology: "Jarldoms" is the plural of "jarldom", the rank or territory of a jarl, the chief Scandinavian nobleman of the Viking Age. The noun is formed from "jarl", borrowed into English from Old Norse "jarl", with the suffix "-dom", which in Old English meant a state, condition or jurisdiction, as in "kingdom" and "freedom". Old Norse "jarl" itself descends from Proto-Norse "erilaz", a word that appears on early runic inscriptions and may have meant a person of high standing or a warrior. English already had "earldom" from Old English "eorl", the cognate of "jarl", so "jarldom" was formed on the same pattern as "earldom" and was used for the territory or dignity of a Norse jarl. The plural "jarldoms" therefore refers to several such territories or titles, which is a natural way to speak of the separate domains held by different jarls in Scandinavia, Orkney, Shetland or Normandy.

Synonyms: earldom