county, counte, countee, countie, count ye

& a. [Lat. comitatus, from comes =a companion, a count. In the Saxon times, created an earl received a shire to govern. When the Normans took po e ion of the land these Saxon earls were displaced by noblemen of similar rank who had come acro with the Conqueror, and who from being his companions were called comites . These each ruled a shire ( comitatus ), and from the Latin designation comitatus the English word county ultimately came. (Trench: On the Study of Words , pp. 206-7).] [COUNT.] A. As substantive: 1. A county or subdivision of a state for purposes of administration, called in some states a parish or a shire; or, more specifically, the Roman name of what in Saxon times had been called a shire. In most of the states the counties to a great extent preserve an autonomy, each being provided with its own sheriff, coroner, judiciary, and inferior legislative body (for purposes of local enactment), generally styled commi ioners. Each county is charged with the administration of justice in its borders, with the support of its own paupers, with the maintenance of good roads, ., and, for local election purposes, usually constitutes an in depend ent constituency. It is in many instances subdivided into townships or parishes, which in turn to a le degree preserve an independence. "Every county , every town, every family, was in agita tion,"-Macaulay: Hist . Eng ., ch. ii. *2. An earldom. *3. A count, an earl, a lord. "Princes and counties ! Surely, a princely testimony, a goodly count, County Comfect; a sweet gallant, surely!" -Shakesp.: Much Ado , iv. 1. B. As adj .: Of or pertaining to a county.