count palatine

3 definitions found

count palatine - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  palatine \pal"a*tine\, a. [F. palatin, L. palatinus, fr.
     palatium. See Palace, and cf. Paladin.]
     1. Of or pertaining to a palace, or to a high officer of a
        palace; hence, possessing royal privileges.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Of or pertaining to the Palatinate.
        [PJC]
  
     3. Of or pertaining to a Palatine[1].
        [PJC]
  
     Count palatine, County palatine. See under Count, and
        County.
  
     Palatine hill, or The palatine, one of the seven hills of
        Rome, once occupied by the palace of the C[ae]sars. See
        also Palatine Hill in the vocabulary, and Palace.
        [1913 Webster]

  Count \Count\, n. [F. conte, fr. L. comes, comitis, associate,
     companion, one of the imperial court or train, properly, one
     who goes with another; com- + ire to go, akin to Skr. i to
     go.]
     A nobleman on the continent of Europe, equal in rank to an
     English earl.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Though the tittle Count has never been introduced into
           Britain, the wives of Earls have, from the earliest
           period of its history, been designated as Countesses.
           --Brande & C.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Count palatine.
     (a) Formerly, the proprietor of a county who possessed royal
         prerogatives within his county, as did the Earl of
         Chester, the Bishop of Durham, and the Duke of Lancaster.
         [Eng.] See County palatine, under County.
     (b) Originally, a high judicial officer of the German
         emperors; afterward, the holder of a fief, to whom was
         granted the right to exercise certain imperial powers
         within his own domains. [Germany]
         [1913 Webster]

count palatine - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  count palatine
      n 1: a count who exercised royal authority in his own domain