county

1
[ koun-tee ]
See synonyms for county on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural coun·ties.
  1. the largest administrative division of a U.S. state: Miami, Florida, is in Dade County.

  2. one of the chief administrative divisions of a country or state, as in Great Britain and Ireland.

  1. one of the larger divisions for purposes of local administration, as in Canada and New Zealand.

  2. the territory of a county, especially its rural areas: We farmed out in the county before moving to town.

  3. the inhabitants of a county: It was supposed to be a secret, but you told the whole county.

  4. the domain of a count or earl.

Origin of county

1
1250–1300; Middle English counte<Anglo-French counté,Old French cunté, conte<Late Latin comitātus imperial seat, office of a comes (see count2), equivalent to Latin comit-, stem of comes + -ātus-ate3 (or by reanalysis of Latin comitātus escort, retinue, originally verbal noun of comitārī to accompany, derivative of comes

Words Nearby county

Other definitions for county (2 of 2)

county2
[ koun-tee ]

nounObsolete.

Origin of county

2
1540–50; <Anglo-French countecount2; -y by confusion with county1

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How to use county in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for county

county

/ (ˈkaʊntɪ) /


nounplural -ties
    • any of the administrative or geographic subdivisions of certain states, esp any of the major units into which England and Wales are or have been divided for purposes of local government

    • (as modifier): county cricket

  1. NZ an electoral division in a rural area

  1. obsolete the lands under the jurisdiction of a count or earl

adjective
  1. British informal having the characteristics and habits of the inhabitants of country houses and estates, esp an upper-class accent and an interest in horses, dogs, etc

Origin of county

1
C14: from Old French conté land belonging to a count, from Late Latin comitātus office of a count, from comes count ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012