count palatine
NounWordNet 3.0
Noun (1)
- a count who exercised royal authority in his own domainSynonyms: count palatine
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
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]
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]