Counties

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkaʊntiz/

Definitions

1. A political subdivision within a nation that manages local governance and services for its population
2. An administrative region designated within a state to facilitate local governance and resource management
3. A territorial division within a country established to govern local affairs and provide public services

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "counties" is that the word for the region is tied to a medieval official rather than to land. A "count" was a royal officer placed in charge of a district, and the district he governed took its name from his office. In Late Latin, "comitatus" meant the jurisdiction of a count, and that term passed into Anglo-Norman and Old French as "conté" before reaching Middle English as "countee" or "counte." Its meaning, then, is the area under a count's authority, not a feature of the countryside itself. English already had a native word for the same kind of unit: Old English "sċīr," which survives today as "shire." The Norman-influenced term largely displaced it, and the two words remain a doublet, since "comitatus" also entered English directly from Latin. Related forms appear in Spanish "condado" and Italian "contea," all descending from the same comes, "count" or "earl." Plural forms of this word simply denote several such districts, so the noun inherits the same origin as the singular.

Synonyms: regions, areas, districts, provinces, locales