1. A person who is of equal status, rank, or character with another.
“The commonalty, like the nobility, are divided into several degrees; and, as the lords, though different in rank, yet all of them are peers in respect of their nobility, so the commoners, though some are greatly superior to others, yet all are in law peers, in respect of their want of nobility ….” 1 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 391 (1765).
2. A member of the British nobility (such as a duchess, marquis, earl, viscount, or baroness). — peerage (peer-ij), n. “The Crown has power to create any number of peers and of any degree. In modern practice the power is exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister and the honour is most commonly a reward for political services. Peerages can be, and have been, conferred for party political reasons; 12 were created in 1712 to save the government, and 16 to help pass the Reform Bill in 1832. In 1832 and 1911 the Opposition of the House of Lords was overcome by the threat to create enough peers to secure a majority…. The main privilege of a peer is to sit and vote in the House of Lords.” David M. Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law 942 (1980).
