county

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.

noun

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.

adj

1. Characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.
   Now, in the district around Chipping Carby, the County Families are very County indeed, few more so. 1886, Andrew Lang, The Mark of Cain
   She was a tall girl and county, with Hilary's walk: she seemed to topple even when she sat. 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 274
   The other two, like many of her characters, have fallen on harder times: Joan's family has recently lost her father, a small flour-mill owner -- described by a supporter as more "county" than the upstart newcomers who covet their property ... 2007, Heather Julien, Gender and Literacy in Britain, 1847--1987
   Susan Dean realises that her secretary, Eleanor Grantly, is much more county than she ever will be, because Eleanor knows all the Barsetshire family connections and is connected herself. 2015, Kate Macdonald, Novelists Against Social Change: Conservative Popular Fiction, 1920-1960