county
/ˈkaʊn(t)i/noun, adjective
county is spelled C-O-U-N-T-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 155 times per million words in written English, the 657th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, county means “The land ruled by a count or a countess” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of county is counties.
How many letters and syllables are in county?
| Letters | 6: C-O-U-N-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 155 times per million words; the 657th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is county?
County appears 155 times per million words in written English, the 657th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce county?
- UK /ˈkaʊnti/
- /ˈkuːntɪ/
- US /ˈkaʊn(t)i/
County has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-county.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with county?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as county from its last stressed vowel (/aʊni/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of county
- counties plural
- more county comparative
- most county superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does county mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The land ruled by a count or a countess.
- 2
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 47 of the 50 United States (excluding Alaska, Connecticut, and Louisiana).
- 3
A definitive geographic region, without direct administrative functions.
traditional county
- 4
USslangA jail operated by a county government.
He can't come; he's up in the county for agg assault.
adjective
- 1
Characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate county?
Wiktionary records 5 abbreviations of county: CO, Cnty., Co, Co., co..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
County in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | comté , département |
| German | Grafschaft , Landkreis, Bezirk, County, Qark |
| Portuguese | condado |
| Spanish | condado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does county come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).