From Middle English countee, counte, conte, from Anglo-Norman counté, Old French conté (French comté), from Latin comitātus, from comes ("count, earl").

• (America, RP) IPA: /ˈkaʊnti/

county

1. 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 48 of the 50 United States (excluding Alaska and Louisiana).
2. A definitive geographic region, without direct administrative functions.

   traditional county

3. (US, slang, uncountable) A jail operated by a county government.

   He can't come; he's up in the county for agg assault.

4. (historical) The land ruled by a count or a countess.

• (from Mandarin Chinese) hsien, xian

• count

• French: comté of the UK, the US and Canada, département
• German: Landkreis, Grafschaft, Bezirk, (US) County, (Albania) Qark
• Italian: contea
• Portuguese: condado
• Russian: гра́фство
• Spanish: condado

• French: comté
• German: Grafschaft
• Italian: contea, contado
• Portuguese: condado
• Russian: гра́фство
• Spanish: condado

county

1. Characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.
   • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 274:

     She was a tall girl and county, with Hilary's walk: she seemed to topple even when she sat.