county

¹

[ koun-tee ]

noun

, plural coun·ties.

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.

county

²

[ koun-tee ]

noun

, Obsolete.

1. count ².

county

/ 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

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

Word History and Origins

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

Origin of county²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of county¹

C14: from Old French conté land belonging to a count, from Late Latin comitātus office of a count, from comes count ²

Example Sentences

One speaker, a mother, said she was on the verge of being homeless again after timing out of the county’s shelters.

From Los Angeles Times

Federal park police can arrest people on federal lands but Trump would probably need city and county police to enforce camping bans in most areas of the country.

From Los Angeles Times

On the first two days of the Mountain fire, the worst days for air quality, advocate groups, the county agriculture commissioner and the Farm Bureau of Ventura County gave many farmworkers N95 masks.

From Los Angeles Times

Higher-income counties were more likely to have voted yes, according to a Times review of voter results, although Orange and San Diego counties voted no.

From Los Angeles Times

The nationwide opioid crisis continues to plague California — even as individual counties record a plateau in deaths related to drug overdoses.

From Los Angeles Times