county

¹ American  

[koun-tee] / ˈkaʊn ti /

noun

Obsolete.

1. count.

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county ² American  

[koun-tee] / ˈkaʊn ti /

noun

plural

counties

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.

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

4. the territory of a county, especially its rural areas.

   We farmed out in the county before moving to town.

5. the inhabitants of a county.

   It was supposed to be a secret, but you told the whole county.

6. the domain of a count or earl.

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county British  

/ ˈkaʊntɪ /

noun

1. 1. 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

   2. ( as modifier )

      county cricket

2. an electoral division in a rural area

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

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adjective

1. 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

Etymology

Origin of county¹

1540–50; < Anglo-French counte count ²; -y by confusion with county ¹

Origin of county¹

1250–1300; Middle English counte < Anglo-French counté, Old French cunté, conte < Late Latin comitātus imperial seat, office of a comes ( count ² ), equivalent to Latin comit-, stem of comes + -ātus -ate ³ (or by reanalysis of Latin comitātus escort, retinue, originally verbal noun of comitārī to accompany, derivative of comes

Example Sentences

But officials said the man, who was described as being of “Hispanic descent,” died after eating wild mushrooms foraged at a regional park in the county.

From Los Angeles Times

Abdirahman, a 60-year-old grandmother, was bitten while herding livestock in Mandera county in Kenya's northeast, a hotspot for the parasite but with only three treatment facilities capable of treating the disease.

From Barron's

Horvath, had she run for mayor, would have had to forfeit her seat on the county Board of Supervisors.

From Los Angeles Times

Health officials in San Bernardino County have confirmed the first case of measles in the county since 2023.

From Los Angeles Times

County supervisor represents 2 million people in a sprawling Westside and San Fernando Valley district, ended weeks of speculation about her political intentions, saying her work in the county “is not finished.”

From Los Angeles Times