viscount Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (in various countries) a son or younger brother or a count
  2. noun a British peer who ranks below an earl and above a baron

WordNet

Vis"count` noun
Etymology
OE. vicounte, OF. visconte, vescunte, F. vicomte, LL. vicecomes; L. vice (see Vice, a.) + comes a companion, LL., a count. See Count.
Definitions
  1. (O. Eng. Law) An officer who formerly supplied the place of the count, or earl; the sheriff of the county.
  2. A nobleman of the fourth rank, next in order below an earl and next above a baron; also, his degree or title of nobility. See Peer, n., 3. Eng. Chaucer.

Webster 1913