woman who is noble by descent, creation, or marriage. For, as we have noblemen of several ranks, so we may have noblewomen; thus king Henry VIII. made Anne Bullen marchioness of Pembroke; king James I. created the Lady Compton, wife to Sir Thomas Compton, countess of Buckingham, in the lifetime of her husband, without any addition of honour to him; and also the same king made the Lady Finch, viscountess of Maidstone, and afterwards countess of Winchelsea, to her and the heirs of her body: and king George I. made the Lady Schudenberg, duchess of Kendal.

If a peeress, by descent or creation, marries a person under the degree of nobility, she still continues noble; but if she obtains that dignity only by marriage, she loses it, on her afterwards marrying a commoner; yet by the courtesy of England, she generally retains the title of her nobility.

A countess or baroness may not be arrested for debt or trespass; for though in respect of their sex, they cannot sit in parliament, they are nevertheless peers of the realm, and shall be tried by their peers, &c.

Pewit, in ornithology. See Larus.