Countess \Count"ess\ (kount"?s), n.; pl. {Countesses} (-?s). [F.
comtesse. See {Count} a nobleman.]
The wife of an earl in the British peerage, or of a count in
the Continental nobility; also, a lady possessed of the same
dignity in her own right. See the Note under {Count}.
[1913 Webster] Countinghouse