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peerage

/ˈpɪrɪdʒ/
IPA guide

Other forms: peerages

The system of giving people titles like "Lord So-and-So," or "The Duchess of Wherever" is called peerage. The title itself is also referred to as a peerage.

In a monarchy like the United Kingdom or Saudi Arabia, a peerage is a legal classification of all the ranks bestowed on the nobility. So if a country has lords, ladies, dukes, duchesses, earls, and countesses, it's the peerage that keeps track of the titles and who holds them. If you're bestowed such a title, you receive a peerage: "My grandmother inherited a peerage when her uncle died, and that's when my family got that castle in Scotland."

Definitions of peerage
  1. noun
    the peers of a kingdom considered as a group
    synonyms: baronage
    see moresee less
    type of:
    aristocracy, nobility
    a privileged class holding hereditary titles
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