county

¹ American  

[kaun-tee] / ˈkaʊn ti /

noun

• counties
  plural

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 ² American  

[kaun-tee] / ˈkaʊn ti /

noun

Obsolete.

1. count.

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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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• counties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of county¹

1250–1300; Middle English counte < Anglo-French counté, Old French cunté, conte < Late Latin comitātus imperial seat, office of a comes ( see 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

Origin of county²

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

Explanation

A county is a specific region of a state or country. While the United States is made up of 50 states, it also has over 3000 counties. In the U.S., a county is a separate administrative area of a state — in other words, there is a local government that manages each individual county. In some parts of the country, there are town governments in addition to county governments, both of which are subordinate to the state government. The states range from having three counties (Delaware) to 254 counties (Texas). The Latin root of county is comitatus, "jurisdiction of a count."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

county counties

Paxton took out mortgages totaling $1.9 million for them, according to legal documents filed with the local county.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

Mashburn was expected to support it at an August board meeting, but he didn’t, and said the county still felt disrespected.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Horvath said the county is prepared to partner with every city in the county to “listen to their concerns, and work toward solutions that address them.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

Within an hour, Sramek warned of an obstacle: county government red tape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

I would park the car several blocks away from school, behind the county fairgrounds, and walk to class.

From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for coastal areas in four counties in Florida, while states of emergency are in place in parts of Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

A Sovereign Investment Partnership between the two counties, announced in 2021, initially targeting £10 billion over five years, has already seen nearly £30 billion committed across more than 50 direct investments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The Seasons of Life workshops are run by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust and have been piloted at several schools in counties Armagh and Tyrone during the last year.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

After polling officials in 90 Florida cities and counties, researchers said the officials were already devising backup plans to put in effect if the amendment passes.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

When African Americans began to exercise their right to vote in the 1970s, there was deep concern among some prosecutors and judges about how the racial demographics in some counties would complicate their reelections.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson