Peer

(per.) [From L. par, equal.] (Pol.) In England, a nobleman having a seat in the House of Lords, or, as it is sometimes styled, the House of Peers; the wife of such personage is termed a peere . There are also certain noble ladies who are peere es in their own right, by descent or inheritance, but who are debarred by their sex from sitting in the upper house of Parliament. [s. 692]