county

county — noun

IPA/ˈkaʊnti/
KK[kˈaʊnti]IPA/ˈkaʊnti/
  • countysingular
  • countiesplural

1. one of the regions into which a country such as the UK, the US, or Ireland is di

1.nounB1
Definition

one of the regions into which a country such as the UK, the US, or Ireland is divided for local government — each county has its own council or administration that manages services such as schools, roads, waste collection, courts, and public records.

Example

The county council decided to build a new library near the town centre.

collocation: county council

Ezra moved to a village in Oxfordshire, a county northwest of London.

pattern: [name]shire county — UK naming convention

Common collocations
  • county council
  • county line
  • county border
  • county seat
  • county court
  • county fair
  • county government
  • the county of [name]
Synonyms
  • shire

    specifically a British county, especially one with a name ending in '-shire' — more traditional and rural in feel.

  • province

    a larger regional division used in Canada, China, and other countries; provinces are typically bigger than counties.

  • district

    a general term for any defined administrative area; may be smaller or larger than a county depending on the country.

  • region

    a broad geographical area, not always an official administrative unit.

Grammar Patterns

the county of [name]

[name] county

county + noun

Usage Note

In the US, a county is the largest administrative division within a state, smaller than a state but larger than a city or town. In the UK, counties are historic geographical areas, some of which are also used for local government (e.g. 'Greater Manchester'). Many British counties have names ending in '-shire' (e.g. Yorkshire, Warwickshire). In Taiwan, the equivalent term for US counties is 縣; for UK counties, 郡 is often used.

Common Mistakes

She comes from a small county in Europe called Portugal.
She comes from a small country in Europe called Portugal.
'county' is a region inside a country, not the country itself.

county — adjective

IPA/ˈkaʊn.ti/
KK[kˈaʊnti]IPA/ˈkaʊn.t̬i/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These four words all refer to geographical subdivisions, but they differ in scale, region, and formality. A county is a specific type of administrative area used in the UK, the US, and Ireland — it is a standard term in everyday news and government contexts. A province is typically larger than a county and is used in countries such as Canada, China, Spain, and Indonesia (e.g. 'the province of Ontario'). 'Province' sounds more formal and is rarely used in daily conversation. A shire is a traditional British term for a county, especially one whose name ends in '-shire' (e.g. 'Yorkshire', 'Warwickshire'); it has a rustic, historical, or literary flavour. A district is the most general and flexible of the four — it can be any defined area, from a school district to a shopping district, and it does not have a fixed size. For example: 'Oregon has 36 counties, each roughly the size of a small European country.' 'She grew up in the Shire of Perth, a beautiful part of Scotland.' 'Tokyo is divided into 23 special wards, not counties or provinces.'

county ↗province ↗shiredistrict ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • county by county
  • the county of [name]

Prepositions

  • across the county
  • in the county
  • throughout the county
  • within the county

Etymology

LatinAnglo-NormanEnglish

County entered English through Anglo-Norman 'counté' (the territory ruled by a count), which came from Latin 'comitātus' (the office or domain of a 'comes' — originally an imperial companion or attendant of the Roman emperor). Over time, the direct link to a count's title weakened, and the word settled into its modern meaning as a general term for a regional administrative division. The adjective sense (describing an upper-class countryside lifestyle) developed in 19th-century Britain from the phrase 'county family' — the prominent landowning families of a particular county.