county palatine

American  

noun

plural

counties palatine

1. the territory under the jurisdiction of a count palatine.

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county palatine British  

noun

1. the lands of a count palatine

2. (in England and Ireland) a county in which the earl or other lord exercised many royal powers, esp judicial authority

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Etymology

Origin of county palatine

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

The Queen’s Park, purchased and laid out at a cost of �11,000 with money which devolved to Queen Victoria in right of her duchy and county palatine of Lancaster, was opened in 1879.

From Project Gutenberg

Till the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Henry VIII. the royal franchise of Ely, in several statutes, was recognised as the county palatine of Ely.

From Project Gutenberg

In the reign of Henry VIII. the distinctive privileges of Cheshire as a county palatine were considerably abridged.

From Project Gutenberg

Three of these counties, Chester, Durham, and Lancaster, are called counties palatine.

From Project Gutenberg

One of the systems of arrangement is topographical, as the Chetham, "for the purpose of publishing biographical and historical books connected with the counties palatine of Lancaster and Chester."

From Project Gutenberg