A viscount ( /ˈvaɪkaʊnt/ "vie-count", for male) or viscountess (for female) is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl (in the United Kingdom) or a count (the earl's continental equivalent).
Read more about Viscount: Etymology, Viscounts in The United Kingdom and The Commonwealth, Continental Forms of The Title, Correct Form of Address, Equivalent Western Titles, Non-western Counterparts
Famous quotes containing the word viscount:
“If it was not absolutely necessary, it was the foolishest thing ever done.”
—William Lamb Melbourne, 2nd Viscount (1779–1848)
“The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”
—Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey Of Falloden (1862–1933)
“My esoteric doctrine, is that if you entertain any doubt, it is safest to take the unpopular side in the first instance. Transit from the unpopular, is easy ... but from the popular to the unpopular is so steep and rugged that it is impossible to maintain it.”
—William Lamb Melbourne, 2nd Viscount (1779–1848)