That's a good point, and countess has a pretty early attestation. Thinking about French too, con is pretty close to comte, although I don't know the history, an

That's a good point, and countess has a pretty early attestation. Thinking about French too, con is pretty close to comte, although I don't know the history, and con is not obscene like in English currently. The Wikipedia page on "Earl"[1] has a quote with citation agreeing with the theory. I wonder if that book has any more evidence. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl#Etymology