county

1 of 2

noun (1)

coun·​ty ˈkau̇n-tē 

plural counties

1

: the domain of a count

2

a

: one of the territorial divisions of England and Wales and formerly also of Scotland and Northern Ireland constituting the chief units for administrative, judicial, and political purposes

b(1)

: the people of a county

(2)

British : the gentry of a county

3

: the largest territorial division for local government within a state of the U.S.

4

: the largest local administrative unit in various countries

county adjective

county

2 of 2

noun (2)

plural counties

archaic

: count entry 3

Examples of county in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Willow Glen Road, a two-lane county roadway, was blocked in both directions for about an hour and a half while crews responded and cleared the scene. —Richard Ramos, CBS News, 22 Jan. 2026

Before the raise, Chula Vista ranked eighth out of 12 agencies in the county for total compensation, which includes salary, benefits and specialty pay. —Walker Armstrong, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026

Bute adds that due to staffing shortage across the county, many teachers are also having to teach outside their area of formal training. —Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 22 Jan. 2026

Topline The death of a Cuban immigrant held at an immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, has been ruled a homicide, multiple outlets reported on Wednesday night, citing an autopsy report released by the county medical examiner’s office. —Siladitya Ray, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English counte, from Anglo-French cunté, counté, from Medieval Latin comitatus, from Late Latin, office of a count, from comit-, comes count — more at count

Noun (2)

modification of Middle French comte

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1539, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing county

• administrative county
• county agent
• county borough
• county court
• county fair
• county palatine
• county seat
• county town
• inter-county
• sub-county

Rhymes for county

• bounty

Kids Definition

county

noun

coun·​ty

ˈkau̇nt-ē

plural counties

1

: the area owned by a count

2

: a division of a state or of a country for local government

Etymology

Noun

Middle English counte "division of the country for the purposes of government," from early French counté "region under control of a count," derived from Latin comes count — related to count entry 3