User:Artix Kreiger/Graf

Graf is a title of Nobility. It was common in Germany. The title is similar to the title of earl.

Origin of word

The word Graf is said to derive ultimately from the Greek verb graphein ("to write"), but this may be fanciful: Paul the Deacon wrote in Latin ca 790: "the count (comes) of the Bavarians that they call gravio who governed Bauzanum and other strongholds…" (Historia Langobardorum, V.xxxvi); this may be read to make the term a Germanic one, but by then using Latin terms was quite common.