County

n. district, division of land

A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count. Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain and Ireland—the term is from Old Norse jarl and was introduced by the Vikings—but there is no correlation between counties and earldoms. Rather, county, from French comté, was simply used by the Normans after 1066 to replace the native English term scir —Modern English shire, as the Anglo-Saxon system of Shires was unique and thus hard for the Norman invaders to comprehend so they resorted to calling them Counties. A shire was an administrative division of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom (Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia, etc.), usually named after its administrative centre: for example, Gloucester, in Gloucestershire; Worcester, in Worcestershire; etc. or originate from these forms of names (e.g. Wiltshire derived from 'Wiltonshire' with Wilton as it's old county town). Thus, whereas the word comté denoted a sovereign jurisdiction in the original French, the English county denotes a subdivision of a sovereign jurisdiction.
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Noun
1. a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government; "the county has a population of 12,345 people"
(hypernym) region, part
(hyponym) Home Counties
(part-meronym) county seat, county courthouse
2. the largest administrative district within a state; "the county plans to build a new road"
(hypernym) administrative district, administrative division, territorial division
(classification) United States, United States of America, America, US, U.S., USA, U.S.A.

(n.)
An earldom; the domain of a count or earl.
  

(n.)
A count; an earl or lord.
  

(n.)
A circuit or particular portion of a state or kingdom, separated from the rest of the territory, for certain purposes in the administration of justice and public affairs; -- called also a shire. See Shire.
  

Divisions of land in France formed in the 9th century and in England after the conquest in 1066. The feudal lord of a county, the English Count or French Compte, were powerful nobles who ranked below a Duke and above viscounts and barons .