County
adj, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The land ruled by a count or a countess. countable, historical, uncountable
"The first of the principalities of the Low Countries to take clear shape was the county of Flanders."
- 2 (United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government wordnet
- 3 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). countable, uncountable
"Entire states such as California, Illinois and New York are now sanctuaries, as well as major cities and counties such as Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and the District of Columbia in the capital region, according to the list. […] FAIR says the county is a sanctuary because it tells police not to ask about immigration status even during an arrest."
- 4 (United States) the largest administrative district within a state wordnet
- 5 A definitive geographic region, without direct administrative functions. countable, uncountable
"traditional county"
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- 6 A jail operated by a county government. US, slang, uncountable
"He can't come; he's up in the county for agg assault."
- 1 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."
Example
More examples"These smaller parts are called counties, and each county has a county council, like Westhamptonshire County Council."
Etymology
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.
Related phrases
More for "county"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.