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

The appointments come after a controversial policy that seeks to ban all books containing transgender topics from county libraries has been proposed, and rejected, multiple times by the current library board. —Angele Latham, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025

Voegele said the county is also trying to conserve open space as the population grows. —Caroline Neal, Louisville Courier Journal, 21 Oct. 2025

Benefiel, 23, has since been charged with murder and criminal recklessness, the county prosecutor’s office said. —Sean Neumann, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2025

The river's watershed covers 1,657 square miles, with 758 square miles in Benton, Washington and Crawford counties in Arkansas and the rest in northeast Oklahoma's Adair, Cherokee, Delaware and Sequoyah counties. —Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2025

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