county

¹ American  

[koun-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  

[koun-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

Inflected Forms

noun

• 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

Due to eligibility changes, the county will no longer be able to get reimbursements for many Californians who have lost Medi-Cal.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. was sentenced to a year in county jail and two years of probation and community service after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the firefighter.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

Mail-in ballots with a Tuesday postmark will be accepted by county election officials for another week.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

City and county leaders across the state sounded alarms over potential repercussions for Floridians.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

“But I won a blue ribbon at the county fair for this strudel!”

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson