GRANDEE

(Span, grande; from grande de Esvafla.) The highest title of Spanish nobility. The collective body of the higher nobility in Spain is termed la grandeza. They were originally the same with the ricos hombres. Grandees bear different titles — duke, marquis, .; but there is no e ential difference of rank between these titles: all are equal among themselves. Grandeeships descend through females, and thus become accumulated in families. {Quart. Rev., 1838.) [s. 538]