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

Since the fires erupted, 11 people have died, and 180,000 people across Los Angeles and Ventura counties have evacuated from their homes. —Charna Flam, People.com, 11 Jan. 2025

The faulty messages that bombarded residents’ phones multiple times Thursday and Friday — including in the middle of the night — stoked confusion and panic across the vast county of 10 million. —Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025

The panic buttons are already used in a number of other school districts in Florida, including Duval, Hillsborough, Lee, Palm Beach and Volusia counties. —Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025

An evacuation warning that was sent to cellphones across Los Angeles County on Thursday afternoon was sent in error, the county said. —Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, New York Times, 10 Jan. 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

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