county

/ˈkaʊnti/

//ˈkaʊnti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"county" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“county” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #650. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#650
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The land ruled by a count or a countess.

Corpus desk

Index EN-county · county · English

county · rank #650 · 9 variants · 19 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #650
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH center

Nearest frequency peer: center (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “county”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “county” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

county vs cunt
67% similar
county vs cuny
67% similar
county vs court
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for county
PropertyValue
Headwordcounty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkaʊnti/
Letters6
Frequency rank#650
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “county”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).countylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “center” (#649), “couple” (#651), “April” (#648). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “county” is #650. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around county (IPA /ˈkaʊnti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #650 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for county, with forms such as "ccounty", "conuty", and "counnty". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "cunt", "cuny", "court", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). Doubl… The correct English form is county, spelled C-O-U-N-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The land ruled by a count or a countess.
  2. 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. 3
    A definitive geographic region, without direct administrative functions.
  4. 4
    A jail operated by a county government.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how county appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The first of the principalities of the Low Countries to take clear shape was the county of Flanders.
  2. Entire states such as California, Illinois and New York are now sanctuaries, as well as major cities and counties such as Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and the District of Columbia in the capital region, according to the list. […] FAIR says the county is a sanctuary because it tells police not to ask about immigration status even during…

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.

Synonyms

hsienxian

This word in other languages

condado(Español)comté(Français)Grafschaft(Deutsch)condado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccounty
  • conuty
  • counnty
  • countty
  • countyy
  • counyt
  • coutny
  • cuonty
  • ocunty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of county - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccounty1conuty2counnty1countty1countyy1counyt2coutny2cuonty2
Edit distance from "county"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "county"?
"county" is spelled C-O-U-N-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkaʊnti/.
What does "county" mean?
As a noun, "county" means: The land ruled by a count or a countess.
What words are commonly confused with "county"?
"county" is commonly confused with "cunt", "cuny", "court". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "county"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "county" is /ˈkaʊnti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "county"?
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 (“count... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "county", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

center#649couple#651happen#654what's#645

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

player9 variantsreturn9 variantslikely9 variantshigher9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list