A viscount is a rank of nobility in some European countries, sitting between an earl (or count) and a baron. In medieval times, a viscount often served as a deputy to a count, managing part of the count's territory and collecting taxes, maintaining order, and settling disputes.

In British nobility, which still exists today, a viscount ranks fourth in the hierarchy, below duke, marquess, and earl but above baron. The wife of a viscount is called a viscountess, and the title usually passes from father to son. You might encounter viscounts in historical novels about medieval Europe or stories set in England's aristocratic world. For example, in British society, a viscount would be addressed as “Lord” followed by a title, like “Lord Petersfield.”

While viscounts once held real power and ruled over estates, today in countries like Britain the title is mostly ceremonial, a reminder of how society was organized centuries ago. Some viscounts still own ancestral lands and sit in the House of Lords, but they don't govern territories the way their ancestors did.