county

B1 Topic:Places & Geography

US /ˈkuːntɪ/ UK /ˈkaʊnti/ See IPA manual

Freq #2444

Meanings

1

noun
A region within a country or state, used for local government.

The county plans to build a new road next year.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

xian

Word family

Forms counties

Derived forms countiancountyhoodcountyismcountylikecountywideintercountyintracountymulticountynoncountysubcountytricounty

Related forms barony bishopric count countdom duchyearldomkingdom marchmargravatemargraviatemarquesatemarquessate

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

county jail
A local detention facility run by a county authority, typically for short sentences

Adjective + noun

Etymology

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.

countee Middle English counté xno conté Old French comitātus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Places & Geography

External links

# county

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkuːntɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkaʊnti/
**Frequency rank:** 2444

## Meanings
1. A region within a country or state, used for local government.

## Examples
- The county plans to build a new road next year.

## Synonyms
- xian

## Derived Forms
- countian
- countyhood
- countyism
- countylike
- countywide
- intercounty
- intracounty
- multicounty
- noncounty
- subcounty
- tricounty

## Related Forms
- barony
- bishopric
- count
- countdom
- duchy
- earldom
- kingdom
- march
- margravate
- margraviate
- marquesate
- marquessate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: countee
- Root: counté
- Root: conté
- Root: comitātus

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
county comes 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. The historical chain includes Middle English countee, xno counté, Old French conté, Latin comitātus. The current sense is A region within a country or state, used for local government. English relatives and later formations include countian, countyhood, countyism, barony, bishopric.

## Topics
- Places & Geography

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