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county

 - 5 dictionary results
County
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coun⋅ty

1  [koun-tee]
Use county in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ties.
1. the largest administrative division of a U.S. state: Miami, Florida, is in Dade County.
2. one of the chief administrative divisions of a country or state, as in Great Britain and Ireland.
3. one of the larger divisions for purposes of local administration, as in Canada and New Zealand.
4. the territory of a county, esp. its rural areas: We farmed out in the county before moving to town.
5. the inhabitants of a county: It was supposed to be a secret, but you told the whole county.
6. the domain of a count or earl.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME counte < AF counté, OF cunté, conte < LL comitātus imperial seat, office of a comes (see count 2 ), equiv. to L comit-, s. of comes + -ātus -ate 3 (or by reanalysis of L comitātus escort, retinue, orig. v. noun of comitārī to accompany, deriv. of comes
County
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coun⋅ty

2  [koun-tee]
–noun Obsolete.
count 2 .
Origin:
1540–50; < AF counte count 2 ; -y by confusion with county 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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coun·ty   (koun'tē)   
n.   pl. coun·ties

  1. The largest administrative division of most states in the United States.

    1. A territorial division exercising administrative, judicial, and political functions in Great Britain and Ireland.

    2. The territory under the jurisdiction of a count or earl.

  3. The people living in a county.


[Middle English counte, territorial division, from Old French conte, the territory of a count, from Medieval Latin comitātus, from Late Latin, the office of count, from Latin, retinue, from comes, comit-, companion; see ei- in Indo-European roots.]
coun'ty adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

county 
1292, from Anglo-Norm. counte, from L.L. comitatus "jurisdiction of a count," from L. comes (see count (n.)); replaced O.E. scir "shire."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

county

internal territorial and administrative division in the United Kingdom, United States, and other English-speaking countries.

Learn more about county with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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