Definition of "Earl"

And therefore the Bishop and clergy of Man were totally powerless to resist the alteration of doctrinal articles and rites of worship which Earls Edward and Henry, between 1521 and 1594, following the edicts of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth, introduced into the Isle of Man.

1860, William Mackenzie, editor, Legislation by Three of the Thirteen Stanleys, Kings of Man. […], Douglas, Isle of Man: […] [T]he Manx Society, page 191

"Of course Gladys and Eleanor, having graced the last generation of heroines and being at present in their social prime, will be passed on to the next generation of shopgirls -""Displacing Ella and Stella," interrupted Dick."And Pearl and Jewel,", Gloria added cordially, " and Earl and Elmer and Minnie."

1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, (please specify |book=1, 2, or 3)

- - - in a world of mandatory diminutives, a corporation of jolly Bills and Jacks and Herbs and Teds in which an unabbreviable given name like Earl must have been a minor handicap, "Oat" was the best that could be done for a man with the given name of Otis.

1961, Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road, Vintage Contemporaries, published 2000, page 74