Added 9 October 2026
county
/ˈkaʊnti/ noun
In Latin: comitatus Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about county at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- The land ruled by a count or a countess.
- 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
adjective
- Characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)