Basic Details
Word: Countess
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A woman who holds the rank of count or earl, or the wife of a count or earl.
How to Spell Countess
Syllables: count - ess
Tricky part: It ends in a double s, like princess and duchess. Students often write countes.
Watch out for: countes, countiss, countesse
Memory tip: Count plus ess, just as host plus ess gives hostess: ess always has two s's.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The countess opened her castle gardens to visitors every summer.
Example 2: In the story, the countess hid her jewels inside a hollow book.
Example 3: The portrait in the museum shows a countess in a blue silk gown.
Fun Fact
In Britain the wife of an earl is called a countess, because English has no female form of the word earl.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the suffix ess to name a woman. Choose it.
ess
a) king
b) count
c) uncle
d) brother
Show answer
b) count. Count plus ess gives countess; a king's female match is a queen, not a kingess.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly and one is not. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. princess 2. countes 3. duchess 4. empress
a) the wife of a count or earl, or a woman with that rank
b) a woman who rules an empire
c) the daughter of a king or queen
d) the wife of a duke, or a woman with that rank
Show answer
a) the wife of a count or earl, or a woman with that rank. Countes is misspelt; it should end in ess with two s's, the way duchess and empress do.
Mingle-Mangle
The jumbled word in the sentence hides a real word. Choose it:
The tcsunoes welcomed her guests at the gates of the old hill palace.
a) counters
b) countess
c) cousins
d) contests
Show answer
b) countess. The jumble has two s's and no r, so it spells countess and not counters.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A countess is a woman of ____.
a) noble rank
b) the army
c) low income
d) great strength
Show answer
a) noble rank
2. Which of these titles belongs to a woman?
a) countess
b) duke
c) earl
d) count
Show answer
a) countess
