county
nounEtymology
From Middle English countee, counte, conte, from Anglo-Norman counté, Old French conté (French comté), from Latin comitātus (“jurisdiction of a count”), from comes (“count, earl”). Cognate with Spanish condado (“county”) and Italian contea (“county”). Doublet of comitatus, borrowed directly from Latin. Mostly displaced native Old English sċīr, whence Modern English shire.
Definitions
The land ruled by a count or a countess.
- The first of the principalities of the Low Countries to take clear shape was the county of Flanders.
An administrative or geographical region of various countries, including Bhutan, Canada,…
An administrative or geographical region of various countries, including Bhutan, Canada, China, Croatia, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and 47 of the 50 United States (excluding Alaska, Connecticut, and Louisiana).
A definitive geographic region, without direct administrative functions.
- traditional county
›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer
A jail operated by a county government.
- He can't come; he's up in the county for agg assault.
- Okay gentlemen, you've both been to county before, I'm sure. Here it comes.
Characteristic of a ‘county family’
Characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.
- Now, in the district around Chipping Carby, the County Families are very County indeed, few more so.
- She was a tall girl and county, with Hilary's walk: she seemed to topple even when she sat.
The neighborhood
- synonymxian
- neighborcount
- neighborbarony
- neighborbishopric
- neighborcountdom
- neighborduchy
- neighborearldom
- neighborkingdom
- neighbormarch
- neighbormargravate
- neighbormargraviate
- neighbormarquesate
- neighbormarquessate
Derived
32-county, another county heard from, ceremonial county, city and county, collar county, Countian, county at large, county borough, county boundary, county brownie, county council, county court, county cricket, county crop, county fair, county family, county farm, County Gates, countyhood, countyism, county jail, county-level city, county-level municipality, countylike, county line, county palatinate, county palatine, county seat, county town, countywide, God's own county, historic county, Home Counties, home county, intercounty, intracounty, metropolitan county, multicounty, noncounty, Norfolk County · +10 more
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for county. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA