peerage
/ˈpɪərɪdʒ
/noun
1The title and rank of peer or peeress: on his retirement as cabinet secretary, he was given a peerage...
- He held five other peerages besides the title of the Duke of Devonshire - Marquess of Hartington, Earl of Devonshire, Earl of Burlington, Lord Cavendish of Hardwick and Lord Cavendish of Keighley.
- In 1958 the Life Peerages Act created non-hereditary peerages which would be granted to a person (male or female) for the term of their life.
- In 1925 Asquith accepted a peerage as Earl of Oxford and Asquith and was created a knight of the garter shortly afterwards.
1.1 (the peerage) Peers as a class: he was elevated to the peerage two years ago...
- Then came Frederick Penny, who was MP for Kingston until his elevation to the peerage as Lord Marchwood in 1932.
- He was elevated to the peerage of Ireland as Lord Kilmaine, for services to the British Crown.
- Only a few years later the Scottish physicist William Thomson, later elevated to the peerage as Lord Kelvin, attempted an estimate on a completely different basis.
Synonyms
aristocracy, nobility, peers and peeresses, lords and ladies, the House of Lords, the Lords, titled nobility/class, titled men/women/people, landed gentry
rare patriciate
1.2A book containing a list of peers and peeresses, with their genealogy and history.
