▪ I. county1
(ˈkaʊntɪ)
Forms: 4–5 counte, cunte, 5 cownty, 6–7 countie, -ye, 6– county.
[a. AF. counté (in Laws of Wm. I.), later counte(e = OF. cunté, conté, later comté = Pr. comtat, It. comitato:—L. comitātus, f. comes, comit-em count: cf. ducātus duchy from dux, ducem duke. The L. word had primarily the sense of ‘a body of companions, a companionship,’ subsequently ‘an escort or retinue’; when comes became a designation of a state officer, comitātus followed as the name of his office, and when the conte became a territorial lord, the conté became his territory—the stage at which the word entered English.]
† 1. The domain or territory of a count. Obs.
Common in AF., but in Eng. perh. only used in reference to the territory of a French or other foreign count. (The first quot. is fig., but seems to belong here.)
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. ii. 85 Þe Erldome of enuye and Wratthe togideres..Þe counte [v.r. countee; A text kingdom] of coueitise, and alle þe costes aboute. 1530 Palsgr. 209/2 Countie, an erledome, conté. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. i. 50 The Dutchy of Aniou, and the County of Main. 1611 Cotgr., Droicts Royaux, the Royall Prerogatiue..to create of a Chastellenie, a Baronie, or Countie; and of this a Marquisdome, or Duchie. 1655 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 399 When he began to prosecute his Victory into the Bounds of the County, or Earldom, the Switzers interceded him to respite his Fury. 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 272/1 Boulogne had..been erected into a county. |
2. a. One of the territorial divisions of Great Britain and Ireland, formed as the result of a variety of historical events, and serving as the most important divisional unit in the country for administrative, judicial, and political purposes.
The
AF. counté and the
med.L.
comitatus were used to render the English
shire, the division of the country administered originally by an
eorl and later by a
sheriff (
AF. viscounte); whence
counte was gradually adopted in English (
app. scarcely before the 15th c.), as an alternative name for the
shire, and in course of time was applied to the similar divisions made in Wales and in Ireland, as well as to the shires of Scotland, and also extended to those separate portions of the realm which never were shires, as the duchy of Cornwall, Orkney and Shetland, etc.
b. The status of county was also given at various times to a number of cities and towns in England and Ireland, with a certain portion of adjoining territory; these were separated from the shire in which they were situated, and made counties by themselves; more exactly called
corporate counties or
counties corporate: see
corporate ppl. a. 4.
c. By the Local Government Act of 1888 the word received a further modification of meaning; besides the historical counties, and counties corporate, boroughs of above 50,000 inhabitants were made administrative counties under the name of
county boroughs, which were administratively, but not politically or judicially, independent of the counties in which they were situated.
| [1292 Britton i. xiv. §3 A nos viscountes de cel counté et des countez joingnauntz.] 1411 in E.E. Wills 20 Þe londes and þe rentes in the Counte of deuon-shire. 1423 Rolls of Parl. (2 Hen. VI) IV. 198 At Oghtryn in the Countee of Kildare. Ibid. IV. 258 That Justies of Pees in every Counte of England shuld examen all manere of servauntz in her Countees. 1482 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 40 Dwellyng w{supt}in the cunte of Cumbreland. 1535–6 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 24 §2 In all Shires, Counties, Counties Palantyne and other Places of this Realme. Ibid. c. 26 §2 The residue of the said Lordeshippes Marchars within the said Countrey or Dominion of Wales shall be severed and devyded into certayne particular Counties or Shires, that is to say, the Countie or Shire of Monmouth, etc. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 64, I am Robert Shallow (Sir) a poore Esquire of this Countie, and one of the Kings Iustices of the Peace. 1754 Hume Hist. Eng. I. ii. 49 Alfred..divided all England into Counties. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 408/1 The word shire is in most cases equivalent to county, a name often substituted for it in Great Britain, and always in Ireland. 1860 Freeman Hist. Ess. (1872) I. ii. 46 Of the Old-English kingdoms several still survive as counties. 1884 Gladstone in Standard 29 Feb. 2/4 The extension of the household franchise to the counties. |
| b. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 13 The county of the City of Yorke..the county of the town of Kingston vpon Hull, The county Palatine of Lancaster, the county of Salop, Leicester, Hereford and Lincolne. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon (1810) 107 King Henry..did..make this city [Exeter], with its suburbs, a County..by means whereof they have justices of the peace, a sheriff, constables, and all other officers that pertained to a county. 1672 Cowel's Interpr. s.v. County, Besides these Counties..there be likewise Counties Corporate..these be certain Cities, or ancient Boroughs of the Land, upon which the Princes of our Nation have thought good to bestow such extraordinary Liberties. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 115 There are also counties corporate; which are certain cities and towns, some with more, some with less territory annexed to them. 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 18/1 Cork, a city, the assize town of the county of Cork..situated in the county of the city of Cork..The county of the city consists of the city, suburbs, and liberties. 1859 Polit. Perils 26 There are in England nineteen Counties-Corporate, that is, cities, or boroughs which are counties of themselves. 1892 Daily News 29 Mar. 2/5 The inquiry was simply limited to the ‘County of London’, which means the metropolis with a twenty-miles radius. |
| c. 1888 Local Govt. Act in Whitaker's Alm. (1889) 584 The following large boroughs, each with a population of not less than 50,000, or being, before the passing of the present Act, a county of itself, will be separate administrative counties, and will be known as county boroughs. Ibid. 586/2 The clerk of the peace for the county of London must be a separate officer from the clerk of the council for the administrative county of London. |
3. Introduced into most of the (former) British colonies as the name of the administrative divisions; in the United States, the political and administrative division next below the State, into which all the States of the Union are divided, except South Carolina, of which the divisions are called ‘districts’, and Louisiana, which is divided into ‘parishes’.
For the relations between the
county and the
town or
township in
U.S., see Bryce
Amer. Commw. ch. xlviii.
| 1683 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 61 Govern{supr} of Pensilvania and Countys annexed. 1760 T. Hutchinson Hist. Col. Mass. i. 117 The colony..was divided..into four counties or shires. 1809 Kendall Trav. I. x. 113 The society, town and county, in these countries, are new modifications of the parish, hundred and shire. 1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 217/1 These districts [Lower Canada] are sub-divided as under: Counties, Seigniories, Fiefs, Townships. Ibid. VI. 311/2 (South Carolina) The number of districts, which name is here substituted for that of counties, is 29. 1839 Ibid. XIII. 75/2 Jamaica is politically divided into three counties, Surrey, Middlesex, and Cornwall. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. (1889) I. xlviii. 568 The county..is still in the main a judicial district in and for which civil and criminal courts are held. |
4. Eng. Hist. The periodical meeting, convention, or court held under the sheriff for the transaction of the business of the shire; the shire-moot, shire-court,
county-court 1; also a particular session of this court.
This was perhaps the earliest sense in which
counté was used in English. It was a regular use of
Anglo-Lat. comitatus and
AF. counté;
app. no such phrases as
curia de comitatu, or
court du counté, being in use. Business was done
in pleno comitatu,
en plein counté, a man was not outlawed until he had been ‘exacted’
in quatuor comitatibus; he must be exacted
de comitatu in comitatum, etc.
| [1217 2nd Charter Hen. III (2nd Re-issue of Magna Carta) §42 Nullus comitatus de cetero teneatur nisi de mense in mensem [transl. Pulton, c. xxxv, No Countie from henceforth shall be holden, but from moneth to moneth]. 1292 Britton vi. iv. §3 Purra il weyver la court soen seignur..et pleder en Counté. Ibid. vi. iv. §6 Et moustrer le bref en plein Counté.] c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 133 Contek in countes alle was peysed wele, Baret of baron feez forgyuen ilkadele. Ibid. 309 To com to þe parlement, For erles & barons at London suld it be, Four knyghtes be somons chosen in ilk counte. 1444 Petition in Rolls of Parl. V. 110 That the shirref of every shire..in the next counte holden in thaire shires..make an opyn proclamation..Of the suitors of the seid countees than being in the pleine counte. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 15 Preamb., Shirefs Undershirefs Shire Clerkis or any other officers holding or keping the Countes in the name of a Shiref. 1535–6 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 26 §14 The Shire courte or Countie of and for the said Shire or Countie of Brekenok shalbe holden and kepte in the said Towne of Brekenok. 1549 Act 2–3 Edw. VI, c. 25 Shires which haue and vse their Counties to bee holden euery six weekes. [1700 Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 776 At the next County (i.e. County-Court) which should be holden.] |
5. a. The people of a county collectively as a part of the nation, or as a body of ratepayers.
b. The county gentry or county families collectively. Also
freq. with omission of
the. Also as
adj., having the social status of a county family; characteristic of county gentry.
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 17/1 The counties throughout the kingdom were so incensed..that they refused to suffer the soldiers to be billeted upon them. 1886 Mrs. Oliphant Poor Gentl. xxxi. (Leisure Ho. 515), ‘I am sure’, said Mrs. Rochford, ‘the county will like far better to see you there than Mrs. Russell-Penton.’ a 1893 Mod. The expenses are to be borne by the county. The new bridge has been built at the joint expense of the County, the Borough, and the Thames Commissioners. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Touch & Go iii. i. 68 The Walsalls didn't like it—too near the ugliness. They were county, you know—we never were: father never gave mother a chance, there. 1921 M. Arlen Romantic Lady 8 But perhaps you would prefer me to be haughty..or how do you say it—county? 1923 ― These Charming People 173 Young Thomas married county. 1926 Galsworthy Escape ii. vi, ‘I should think he was County, wouldn't you?’..‘Um! Only {oqq}County{cqq} would drive such a shockin' bad car.’ 1937 C. Isherwood Sally Bowles 30 Mummy's bringing her up to be very county. 1963 J. T. Story Something for Nothing ii. 43 High, loud, county voices. |
‖ 6. Used to render L.
conventus, a Roman provincial judicial assembly, and hence an administrative division of a province for the administration of justice.
| 1601 Holland Pliny I. 52 Within the countie or iurisdiction of Corduba. Ibid. 88 The whole prouince [of Spain] is diuided into three counties [in conventus tris] or iudiciall courts of Assises. |
7. county palatine:
orig. the dominion of a count or earl palatine, a palatinate; in England, a county of which the earl or lord had originally royal privileges, with the right of exclusive civil and criminal jurisdiction. See
palatine.
The counties palatine are now
Cheshire and
Lancashire; formerly Durham, Pembroke, Hexhamshire, and Ely were of the number.
| 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 24 Preamb., Where the Countie of Lancastre is and of long tyme hath byn a Countie Palyntyne. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 43 It is now used to keepe Sessions in the said County Palatine of Chester, as it is used in other Shires of England. 1612 Davies Why Ireland, etc. (1787) 106 There were five county palatines erected in Leinster. 1641 Termes de la Ley s.v., Of these Counties there are foure more remarkeable than others, called County Palatines, as the County Palatine of Lancaster, of Chester, of Durham, and of Ely, An. 5. El. c. 23, there was also the County Palatine of Hexam, An. 33. H. 8. c. 10. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xxix. (1739) 45 Of the same sort of Franchises were these which are called County-Palatines, which were certain parcels of the Kingdom assigned to some particular person, and their Successors, with Royal power therein to execute all Laws established, in nature of a Province holden of the Imperial Crown. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xviii. 351 The franchise of a county palatine gave a right of exclusive civil and criminal jurisdiction. 1864 I. Taylor Words & Places 474 The counties palatine of Chester, Durham, and Lancaster are so called on account of the delegated royalty—the ‘jura regalia’—formerly exercised by the Earls of Chester, the Bishops of Durham, and the Dukes of Lancaster. |
8. a. attrib. and
Comb. Of a (or the) county; belonging or pertaining to a county; concerned in the administration of the affairs of a county, as
county alderman,
county clerk,
county councillor,
county treasurer; for the use of the whole county and administered by its authority, as
county asylum,
county bridge,
county gaol (also
county jail),
county hospital,
county road,
county school; of or belonging to a county in its parliamentary aspect (which, from the important differences in the qualifications of electors and representatives, formerly presented distinctive features from that of a borough), as
county constituency,
county election,
county elector,
county franchise,
county member,
county vote, etc.
| 1656 W. Sheppard (title), Survey of the County Judicatories. 1699 in Documents Hist. New Jersey 1st Ser. III. 480 The prison at Woodbridge being the County Goal for the County of Middlesex. 1722 Defoe Plague 164 They deserv'd to be sent to the County Jail. 1767 G. White Let. 4 Nov. in Selborne (1789) i. xii. 35 Four or five swallows..settling on the roof of the county-hospital. 1788 (title), County Management, with an Argument in favour of Pocket Sheriffs. 1809 Tomlins Law Dict. s.v. Bridge, Quarter sessions may..alter the situation of county bridges. 1812 Niles' Reg. I. 361/2 The legislature..appropriated..25,000 per annum for the supporting of county schools. 1820 Rules for Common Gaol of County of Oxford 6 The Governor of the County Gaol. 1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 409/1 (House of Commons), England and Wales: The number of county constituencies before the Reform Act was 52. Ibid. The number of county members is raised from 94 to 159. 1846 County gaol [see corporate ppl. a. B. 5]. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. iii. 181 In 1749 there was established, at Aberdeen, the first county bank ever seen in Scotland. 1868 G. O. Trevelyan in Parlt. (Daily News 10 Dec. 1884 3/3) As regards the County Franchise, I am clearly of opinion that it should be indentified with the Borough Franchise. 1874 Morley Compromise (1886) 50 [They] would maintain churches on the same principle on which they maintain the county constabulary. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 11 The Ordnance Survey issues county maps on a scale of six inches to a mile. 1883 Sir J. F. Stephen Hist. Crim. Law I. vii. 200 In 1856, after an experience of 17 years..an Act..made compulsory the establishment of county police in all parts of England. 1885 W. S. Gilbert Mikado i. 9 Taken from the county jail By a set of curious chances. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. (1889) I. xlviii. 565 The County system of the South and the Town system of the North-east. Ibid. xlix. 588 There are in some States county high schools and (in most) county boards of education. 1888 Pall Mall G. 4 Apr. 4/1 There are fifteen towns and cities which at present enjoy the county status, from which it is to be taken by Mr. Ritchie's bills. 1888 Local Govt. Act (in Whitaker's Alm. 1889, 585) [In] the administrative County of London..the county aldermen will not exceed (in number) one-sixth of the county councillors. 1896 ‘M. Rutherford’ Clara Hopgood vi. 66 There was to be a grand entertainment.. in aid of the County Hospital. 1944 Act 7 & 8 Geo. VI c. 31 §17 The instrument of management or the instrument of government, as the case may be, shall be in the case of a county school by an order of the local education authority. 1962 L. Golding Dict. Local Govt. 107 Nursery schools and special schools, even if they were established by and are maintained by a local education authority, are not regarded as county schools. |
b. Special combs.:
county ball, a subscription ball held in the county town and attended by the county gentry;
county borough (see 2 c above);
county college (see
quots.);
county commissioner, (
a) a justice of the peace on the commission of a county; (
b) in
U.S., an elected administrative officer in many counties in the United States; hence
Board or Court of county commissioners;
county cricket, cricket,
esp. of inter-county matches, played by the regularly organized and qualified elevens of the county clubs;
county crop (
slang), the county gaol ‘crop’, or style in which a prisoner's hair is cut, prison-crop; hence
county-cropped;
† county day, a day on which the county court sits (see 4 above);
county family, a family belonging to the nobility or gentry, having estates and an ancestral seat in the county;
county farm U.S.,
= poor-farm;
county hall, a building for the conduct of the business of a county, in which the county quarter sessions, assizes, etc. are held; a shire hall;
county house (
U.S.), a county poor-house or ‘union’;
county library, a library run by a county authority;
county match Cricket, an intercounty match;
county meeting, a meeting called by the High Sheriff of a county and held to be representative of the county;
county rate, a general rate levied upon a whole county, for the maintenance of bridges, roads, asylums, etc.;
county seat (
U.S.), the place which is the seat of government of a county;
county sessions, the quarter sessions for a county;
† county stock, the fund for defraying county expenses;
county town, the chief town of a county, formerly called
shire-town.
| a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 20 From Lodge, and Court, and House, and Hall, Are hurrying to the *County Ball. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. i, An expedition to the county ball, or the yeomanry review. |
| 1944 Act 7 & 8 Geo. VI c. 31 §43 (1) It shall be the duty of every local education authority to establish and maintain *county colleges, that is to say, centres approved by the Minister for providing for young persons..such further education..as will enable them to develop their various aptitudes. 1963 Barnard & Lauwerys Brit. Educ. Terms 71 County college, a centre which, according to the 1944 Education Act, would provide for young persons under 18..such further education..as will..prepare them for the responsibilities of citizenship. County colleges have not yet (1963) been established. |
| 1809 Tomlins Law Dict. s.v. County rates, Justices of liberties and franchises not subject to the *County commissioners. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. (1889) I. xlviii. 569 The chief administrative officers are the county commissioners, of whom there are three in Massachusetts. |
| 1880 Baily's Monthly Mag. July 410 It is open to question whether it [sc. the eleven] has gained any material addition to its strength during its absence from the field of *county cricket. 1887 Field 10 Sept. 411/2 County cricket quite holds its place in the public estimation. 1928 Evening News 18 Aug. 10/5 The dreariness of play..is forced on the game by the present bye-laws of county cricket. 1966 B. Johnston Armchair Cricket 1966 95 In County cricket, if..thirty minutes extra..could bring about a definite result..the umpires must order play to go on. |
| 1853 Punch XXIV. 147 My reward is the *County crop and the treadmill. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss. s.v., ‘You've got the county-crop’: said in ridicule. |
| 1867 J. Greenwood Unsent. Journ. xxv. 199 A slangy, low-browed, bull-necked, *county-cropped..crew. |
| 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 43 Preamb., One yere viij shires or *countie daies and another yere ix shires or countie daies. 1627 Sir R. Cotton in Rushw. Hist. Coll. I. 470 That a care be had that there may be a County-day after the Sheriff hath received the Writ, before the time of sitting. |
| 1843 H. Hatcher Old & New Sarum xlvii. 581 Many of the *county families had also their town residences in the City. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Aristocr. Wks. (Bohn) II. 79 The aristocracy are marked by their predilection for country life. They are called the county families. 1884 Symonds Shaks. Pred. xi. §v. 451 Mistress Alice..the Lady Macbeth of county family connections. |
| 1871 Michigan Gen. Statutes I. 406 It shall be the duty of the superintendents of the poor of each county..to report..the income received from the *county farm. 1935 A. Kennedy Current Eng. xiii. 548 The poorhouse has become the county farm. |
| 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4392/4 The Commissioners..intend to meet..at the *County-Hall of the County of Nottingham. 1889 Whitaker's Almanack 582 Shire and county halls, assize courts, judges' lodgings, and other official buildings. |
| 1888 Philadelphia Press 29 Jan. (Farmer), An exceedingly singular character has just died in the Hillsdale *county house. |
| 1844 Indiana Senate Jrnl. 271 The boards of county commissioners..may..dispose of..all such books, belonging to any *county library, as are now..worthless. 1927 Public Libr. Committee Rep. Pub. Libr. (Cmd. 2868) 220 In County libraries the books are distributed from a central depository to local centres over a wide area. 1961 T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 108/2 County Libraries have never tended therefore to hoard their reference books. |
| 1782 Club Minutes in Hambledon Cricket Chron. (1924) 66 Ordered that those Players who intend to play in the *County Matches..do give in their names. 1966 B. Johnston Armchair Cricket 1966 46 In County Matches only one commentator is normally employed. |
| 1797 J. Pearson (title), The Rights of Inhabitants at large to attend *County Meetings asserted. 1817 Cobbett Pol. Reg. 15 Feb. 208 Saying that the meeting was not a County Meeting, because it was not called by the Sheriff! |
| 1807–8 Syd. Smith Plymley's Lett. Wks. 1859 II. 70/1 The grand juries in Ireland..have a power of making a *county-rate..for roads, bridges, and other objects of general accommodation. |
| 1888 in Bryce Amer. Commw. (1889) I. xlviii. 575 The county government is established at some place designated by the voters, and called the ‘*county seat’. |
| 1712 Addison Spect. No. 517 ¶1 The old Man caught a Cold at the *County-Sessions. |
| 1651 W. Sheppard Eng. Balme (1657) 28 Be punished with a good Fine, to the use of a *County-stock. |
| 1711 Steele Spect. No. 132 ¶1, I arrived at the *County Town at twilight. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 338 It was seldom that a country gentleman went up with his family to London. The county town was his metropolis. |
▪ II. † ˈcounty2 Obs. Also
countie. countee.
[app. an adoption of AF. counte, or OF. and It. conte, with unusual retention of final vowel, confused in form with county1.] = count n.2| 1550 J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Herald §68. (1877) 80 Monster de Labright, countie de Foyx. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 230 Iohn, countie of Arminack. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 49 Than is there the Countie Palentine. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 29 Raymund countie of Poitou. 1671 Brydall Law Nobility (1675) 9 And those which of antient time were created Countees, or Earls. 1814 Cary Dante, Purg. xiv. 120 Who care to propagate A race of Counties from such blood as theirs. 1848 Wharton Law Lex., Countee or Count, the most eminent dignity of a subject before the conquest. |
▪ III. county, a. See
county1 5 b.