Earl vs. Churl — What's the Difference?

Earl () is a rank of the nobility in Britain. The title originates in the Old English word eorl, meaning "a man of noble birth or rank".

A churl (Old High German karal), in its earliest Old English (Anglo-Saxon) meaning, was simply "a man" or more particularly a "husband", but the word soon came to mean "a non-servile peasant", still spelled ċeorl(e), and denoting the lowest rank of freemen. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it later came to mean the opposite of nobility and royalty, "a common person".

A British nobleman next in rank above a viscount and below a marquis, corresponding to a count in continental Europe.

A rude, surly person; a boor.

Used as a title for such a nobleman.

A miserly person.

(entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Tanaecia. Other butterflies in this genus are called counts and viscounts.

A ceorl.

A nobleman of England ranking below a marquis, and above a viscount. The rank of an earl corresponds to that of a count (comte) in France, and graf in Germany. Hence the wife of an earl is still called countess. See Count.

A medieval English peasant.

The needlefish.

A free peasant (as opposed to a serf) of the lowest rank, below an earl and a thane; a freeman; also (more generally), a person without royal or noble status; a commoner.

A British peer ranking below a Marquess and above a Viscount

A bondman or serf.

(by extension)

(derogatory) A rough, surly, ill-bred person; a boor.

(archaic) A countryman, a peasant, a rustic.

(archaic) A person who is stingy, especially with money; a selfish miser, a niggard.

(Theodism) A freedman, ranked below a thane but above a thrall.

A rustic; a countryman or laborer.

A rough, surly, ill-bred man; a boor.

A selfish miser; an illiberal person; a niggard.

Churlish; rough; selfish.

A crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement

A selfish person who is unwilling to give or spend

A bad-tempered person