KING JAMES BIBLE DICTIONARY

COUNT, verb transitive

1. To number; to tell or name one by one, or by small numbers, for ascertaining the whole number of units in a collection; as, to count the years, days and hours of a mans life; to count the stars.

Who can count the dust of Jacob? Numbers 23:10.

2. To reckon; to preserve a reckoning; to compute.

Some tribes of rude nations count their years by the coming of certain birds among them at certain seasons, and leaving them at others.

3. To reckon; to place to an account; to ascribe or impute; to consider or esteem as belonging.

Abraham believed in God, and he counted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:6.

4. To esteem; to account; to reckon; to think, judge, or consider.

I count them my enemies. Psalms 139:18.

Neither count I my life dear to myself. Acts 20:24.

I count all things loss. Philippians 3:8.

5. To impute; to charge.

COUNT, verb intransitive To count on or upon, to reckon upon; to found an account or scheme on; to rely on. We cannot count on the friendship of nations. count not on the sincerity of sycophants.

COUNT, noun

1. Reckoning; the act of numbering; as, this is the number according to my count

2. Number.

3. In law, a particular charge in an indictment, or narration in pleading, setting forth the cause of complaint. There may be different counts in the same declaration.

COUNT, noun [Latin , a companion or associate, a fellow traveler.] A title of foreign nobility, equivalent to the English earl, and whose domain is a county. An earl; the alderman of a shire, as the Saxons called him. The titles of English nobility, according to their rank, are Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.

COUNTABLE, adjective That may be numbered.

COUNTED, participle passive Numbered; told; esteemed; reckoned; imputed.

Angry
Proverbs 25:23

Cheerful
Job 29:24; Psalms 4:6; Psalms 21:6; Psalms 44:3; Proverbs 15:13; Proverbs 27:17

Fierce
Deuteronomy 28:50; Daniel 8:23

Guilty
Genesis 4:5; Isaiah 3:9

Health indicated in
Psalms 42:11; Psalms 43:5

Pride in
2 Kings 5:1; Psalms 10:4

Reading of
Genesis 31:2; Genesis 31:5

Sad
1 Samuel 1:18; Nehemiah 2:2-3; Ecclesiastes 7:3; Ezekiel 27:35; Daniel 1:15; Daniel 1:5-6

Transfigured
Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:7; 2 Corinthians 3:13; Luke 9:29
Face

COUNTENANCE, noun [Latin , to hold.]

1. Literally, the contents of a body; the outline and extent which constitutes the whole figure or external appearance. Appropriately, the human face; the whole form of the face, or system of features; visage.

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance Proverbs 15:13.

Be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance Matthew 6:16.

2. Air; look; aspect; appearance of the face; as in the phrase, to change or alter the countenance

3. The face or look of a beast; as a horse of a good countenance

4. Favor; good will; kindness.

Thou hast made him glad with thy countenance Psalms 21:6.

Hence in scriptural language, the light of Gods countenance is his smiles or favorable regards, his favor and grace; and to hide his face or countenance is to manifest his displeasure, and withdraw his gracious aids. So the rebuke of his countenance indicates his anger and frowns. Psalms 80:16.

This application of face or countenance which seems to be of high antiquity, proceeded probably from the practice of turning away the face to express anger, displeasure and refusal; a practice still common, but probably universal among rude nations. The opposite conduct would of course express favor. The grant of a petition is accompanied with a look directed to the petitioner; the refusal or denial, with an averted face. Hence,

5. Support; aid; patronage; encouragement; favor in promoting and maintaining a person or cause.

It is the province of the magistrate, to give countenance to piety and virtue.

Let religion enjoy the countenance of the laws.

Give no countenance to violations of moral duty.

6. Show; resemblance; superficial appearance.

The election being done, he made countenance of great discontent thereat.

7. In law, credit or estimation.

To keep the countenance is to preserve a calm, composed or natural look, unruffled by passion; to refrain from expressing laughter, joy, anger or other passion, by an unchanged countenance

In countenance in favor; in estimation.

If the profession of religion were in countenance among men of distinction, it would have a happy effect on society.

To keep in countenance to give assurance or courage to; to support; to aid by favor; to prevent from shame or dismay.

To put in countenance to give assurance; to encourage; or to bring into favor; to support.

Out of countenance confounded; abashed; with the countenance cast down; not bold or assured.

To put out of countenance to cause the countenance to fall; to abash; to intimidate; to disconcert.

COUNTENANCE, verb transitive

1. To favor; to encourage by opinion or words.

The design was made known to the minister, but he said nothing to countenance it.

2. To aid; to support; to encourage; to abet; to vindicate; by any means.

Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. Exodus 23:3.

3. To encourage; to appear in defense.

He countenanced the landing in his long boat.

4. To make a show of.

Each to these ladies love did countenance

5. To keep an appearance.

COUNTENANCED, participle passive Favored; encouraged; supported.

COUNTENANCER, noun One who countenances, favors or supports.

COUNTENANCING, participle present tense Favoring; encouraging; supporting.

COUNTER, noun [from count.]

1. A false piece of money or stamped metal, used as means of reckoning; any thing used to keep an account or reckoning, as in games.

2. Money, in contempt.

3. A table or board on which money is counted; a table on which goods in a shop are laid for examination by purchasers. In lieu of this, we sometimes see written the French comptoir, from compter, computo; but counter is the genuine orthography.

4. The name of certain prisons in London.

5. One that counts or reckons; also, an auditor.

6. Encounter. [Not used.]

7. In ships, an arch or vault, whose upper part is terminated by the bottom of the stern. The upper or second counter is above the former, but not vaulted.

COUNTER of a horse, that part of a horses forehand which lies between the shoulder and under the neck.

COUNTER, adverb [Latin]

1. Contrary; in opposition; in an opposite direction; used chiefly with run or go; as, to run counter to the rules of virtue; he went counter to his own interest.

2. The wrong way; contrary to the right course.

3. Contrariwise; in a contrary manner.

4. The face, or at the face. [Not used.]

This word is prefixed to many others, chiefly verbs and nouns, expressing opposition.

COUNTERACT, verb transitive [counter and act.] To act in opposition to; to hinder, defeat or frustrate by contrary agency. Good precepts will sometimes counteract the effects of evil example; but more generally good precepts are counteracted by bad examples.

COUNTERACTED, participle passive Hindered; frustrated; defeated by contrary agency.

COUNTERACTING, participle present tense Hindering; frustrating.

COUNTERACTION, noun Action in opposition; hindrance.

COUNTER-ATTRACTION, noun [counter and attraction.] Opposite attraction.

COUNTERBALANCE, verb transitive [counter and balance.] To weigh against; to weigh against with an equal weight; to act against with equal power or effect; to countervail A column of thirty inches of quicksilver, and a column of thirty-two feet of water, counterbalance the weight of a like column of the whole atmosphere. The pleasures of sin never counterbalance the pain, misery and shame which follow the commission of it.

COUNTERBALANCE, noun Equal weight, power or agency acting in opposition to any thing.

Money is the counterbalance of all things purchasable.

COUNTERBALANCED, participle passive Opposed by equal weight, power or effect.

COUNTERBALANCING, participle present tense Opposing by equal weight, power or operation.

COUNTERBOND, noun [counter and bond.] A bond to save harmless one who has given bond for another.

COUNTERBUFF, verb transitive [counter and buff.] To strike back or in an opposite direction; to drive back; to stop by a blow or impulse in front.

COUNTERBUFFED, participle passive Struck with a blow in opposition.

COUNTERCAST, noun Delusive contrivance; contrary cast.

COUNTERCASTER, noun [counter and caster.] A caster of accounts; a reckoner; a bookkeeper, in contempt.

COUNTERCHANGE, noun [counter and change.] Exchange; reciprocation.

COUNTERCHANGE, verb transitive To give and receive; or to cause to change places.

COUNTERCHANGED, participle passive Exchanged. In heraldry, intermixed, as the colors of the field and charge.

COUNTERCHARM, noun [counter and charm.] That which has the power of dissolving or opposing the effect of a charm.

COUNTERCHARM, verb transitive To destroy the effect of enchantment.

COUNTERCHECK, verb transitive [counter and check.] To oppose or stop by some obstacle; to check.

COUNTERCHECK, noun Check; stop; rebuke; or a censure to check a reprover.

COUNTERCURRENT, adjective [counter and current.] Running in an opposite direction.

COUNTERCURRENT, noun A current in an opposite direction.

CONTRA-DANCE, COUNTER-DANCE noun A dance in which the partners are arranged in opposition, or in opposite lines.

COUNTERDISTINCTION, noun Contradistinction.

COUNTERDRAW, verb transitive [counter and draw.] In painting, to copy a design or painting, by means of a fine linen cloth, an oiled paper, or other transparent matter, whereon the strokes appearing through, they are traced with a pencil. The same is done on glass, and with frames or nets divided into squares with silk or thread, or by means of instruments, as the parallelogram.

COUNTERDRAWING, participle present tense Copying by means of lines drawn on some transparent matter.

COUNTERDRAWN, participle passive Copied from lines drawn on something else.

COUNTER-EVIDENCE, noun [counter and evidence.] Opposite evidence; evidence or testimony which opposes other evidence.

COUNTERFEIT, verb transitive

1. To forge; to copy or imitate, without authority or right, and with a view to deceive or defraud, by passing the copy or thing forged, for that which is original or genuine; as, to counterfeit coin, bank notes, a seal, a bond, a deed or other instrument in writing, the hand writing or signature of another, etc. To make a likeness or resemblance of any thing with a view to defraud.

2. To imitate; to copy; to make or put on a resemblance; as, to counterfeit the voice of another person; to counterfeit piety.

COUNTERFEIT, verb intransitive To feign; to dissemble; to carry on a fiction or deception.

COUNTERFEIT, adjective

1. Forged; fictitious; false; fabricated without right; made in imitation of something else, with a view to defraud, by passing the false copy for genuine or original; as counterfeit coin; a counterfeit bond or deed; a counterfeit bill or exchange.

2. Assuming the appearance of something; false; hypocritical; as a counterfeit friend.

3. Having the resemblance of; false; not genuine; as counterfeit modesty.

COUNTERFEIT, noun

1. A cheat; a deceitful person; one who pretends to be what he is not; one who personates another; an imposter.

2. In law, one who obtains money or goods by counterfeit letters or false tokens.

3.That which is made in imitation of something, but without lawful authority, and with a view to defraud, by passing the false for the true. We say, the note is a counterfeit

COUNTERFEITED, participle passive Forged; made in imitation of something, with a view to defraud; copied; imitated; feigned.

COUNTERFEITER, noun

1. One who counterfeits; a forger.

2. One who copies or imitates; one who assumes a false appearance.

3. One who endeavors to set off a thing in false colors.

COUNTERFEITLY, adverb By forgery; falsely; fictitiously.

COUNTERFERMENT, noun [counter and ferment.] Ferment opposed to ferment.

COUNTERFESANCE, noun The act of forging; forgery.

COUNTERFOIL, COUNTERSTOCK, noun That part of a tally struck in the Exchequer, which is kept by an officer in that court, the other being delivered to the person who has lent the king money on the account, and is called the stock.

COUNTERFORT, noun [counter and fort.] A buttress, spur or pillar serving to support a wall or terrace subject to bulge.

COUNTERGAGE, noun [counter and gage.] In carpentry, a method used to measure the joints, by transferring the breadth of a mortise to the place where the tenon is to be, in order to make them fit each other.

COUNTERGUARD,noun [counter and guard.] In fortification, a small rampart or work raised before the point of a bastion, consisting of two long faces parallel to the faces of the bastion, making a salient angle, to preserve the bastion. It is sometimes of a different shape, or differently situated.

COUNTER-INFLUENCE, verb intransitive To hinder by opposing influence. [Little used.]

COUNTERLIGHT, noun [counter and light.] A light opposite to any thing, which makes it appear to disadvantage.

COUNTERMAND, verb transitive [Latin , to command.]

1. To revoke a former command; or to give an order contrary to one before given, which annuls a former command and forbids its execution; as, to countermand orders.

2. To oppose; to contradict the orders of another.

3. To prohibit. [Little used.]

COUNTERMAND, noun A contrary order; revocation of a former order or command.

COUNTERMANDED, participle passive Revoked; annulled, as an order.

COUNTERMANDING, participle present tense Revoking a former order; giving directions contrary to a former command.

COUNTERMARCH, noun

1. A marching back; a returning.

2. A change of the wings or face of a battalion, so as to bring the right to the left or the front into the rear.

3. A change of measures; alteration of conduct.

COUNTERMARK, noun [counter and mark.]

1. A second or third mark put on a bale of goods belonging to several merchants, that it may not be opened, but in the presence of all the owners.

2. The mark of the goldsmiths company, to show the metal to be standard, added to that of the artificer.

3. An artificial cavity made in the teeth of horses, that have outgrown their natural mark, to disguise their age.

4. A mark added to a medal, a long time after it has been struck, by which its several changes of value may be known.

COUNTERMARK, verb transitive To mark the corner teeth of a horse by an artificial cavity, to disguise his age.

COUNTERMINE, noun [counter and mine.]

1. In military affairs, a well and gallery sunk in the earth and running under ground, in search of the enemys mine, or till it meets it, to defeat its effect.

2. Means of opposition or counteraction.

3. A stratagem or project to frustrate any contrivance.

COUNTERMINE, verb transitive

1. To sink a well and gallery in the earth, in search of an enemys mine, to frustrate his designs.

2. To counterwork; to frustrate by secret and opposite measures.

COUNTER-MOTION, noun [counter and motion.] An opposite motion; a motion counteracting another.

COUNTER-MOVEMENT, noun A movement in opposition to another.

COUNTERMURE, noun [Latin , a wall.] A wall raised behind another, to supply its place, when a breach is made.

COUNTERMURE, noun To fortify with a wall behind another.

COUNTER-NATURAL, adjective [counter and natural.] Contrary to nature.

COUNTER-NEGOTIATION, noun [counter and negotiation.] Negotiation in opposition to other negotiation.

COUNTERNOISE, noun [counter and noise.] A noise or sound by which another noise or sound is overpowered.

COUNTER-OPENING, noun [counter and opening.] An aperture or vent on the opposite side, or in a different place.

COUNTERPACE, noun [counter and pace.] A step or measure in opposition to another; contrary measure or attempt.

COUNTERPALED, adjective [counter and pale.] In heraldry, is when the escutcheon is divided into twelve pales parted perfesse, the two colors being counterchanged; so that the upper and lower are of different colors.

COUNTERPANE, noun

1. A particular kind of coverlet for a bed. [See Counterpoint.]

2. One part of an indenture.

COUNTERPART, noun [counter and part.]

1. The correspondent part; the part that answers to another, as the two papers of a contract or indentures; a copy; a duplicate. Also, the part which fits another, as the key of a cipher.

2. In music, the part to be applied to another; as, the base is the counterpart to the treble.

COUNTERPASSANT, adjective [counter and passant.] In heraldry, is when two lions in a coat of arms are represented as going contrary ways.

COUNTER-PETITION, noun A petition in opposition to another.

COUNTERPLEA, noun [counter and plea.] In law, a replication to a plea, or request.

COUNTERPLOT, verb transitive [counter and plot.] To oppose one plot to another; to attempt to frustrate stratagem by stratagem.

COUNTERPLOT, noun A plot or artifice opposed to another.

COUNTERPLOTTING, noun A plotting in opposition to a stratagem.

COUNTERPOINT, noun

1. A coverlet; a cover for a bed, stitched or woven in squares; written corruptly counterpane.

2. In music, counterpoint is when the musical characters by which the notes in each part are signified, are placed in such a manner, each with respect to each, as to show how the parts answer one to another. Hence counterpoint in composition is the art of combining and modulating consonant sounds.

3. An opposite point.

COUNTERPOISE, verb transitive s as z. [See Poise.]

1. To counterbalance; to weigh against with equal weight; to be equiponderant to; to equal in weight.

The force and distance of weights counterpoising each other, ought to be reciprocal.

The heaviness of bodies must be counterpoised by a plummet fastened about the pulley to the axis.

2. To act against the equal power or effect; to balance. The wisdom of the senate may be able to counterpoise the rash impetuosity of a democratic house.

COUNTERPOISE, noun

1. Equal weight acting in opposition to something; equiponderance; a weight sufficient to balance another in the opposite scale; equal balance.

2. Equal power or force acting in opposition; a force sufficient to balance another force; equipollence.

The second nobles are a counterpoise to the higher nobility.

3. In the manege, a position of the rider in which his body is duly balanced in his seat, not inclined more to one than the other.

COUNTERPOISED, participle passive Balanced by an equivalent opposing weight, or by equal power.

COUNTERPOISING, participle present tense Balancing by equal weight in the opposite scale, or by equal power.

COUNTERPOISON, noun s as z. [counter and poison.] One poison that destroys the effect of another; an antidote; a medicine that obviates the effects of poison.

COUNTERPRESSURE, noun [counter and pressure.] Opposing pressure; a force or pressure that acts in a contrary direction.

COUNTERPROJECT, noun [counter and project.] A project, scheme or proposal, of one party, given in opposition to another, before given by the other party; as in the negotiation of a treaty.

COUNTERPROOF, noun [counter and proof.] In rolling-press printing, a print taken off from another fresh printed, which, by being passed through the press, gives the figure of the former, but inverted.

COUNTERPROVE, verb transitive [counter and prove.] To take off a design in black lead or red chalk, by passing it through a rolling press with another piece of paper, both being moistened with a spunge.

COUNTER-REVOLUTION, noun A revolution opposed to a former one, and restoring a former state of things.

COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY, adjective Pertaining to a counter-revolution.

COUNTER-REVOLUTIONIST, noun One engaged in or befriending a conter-revolution.

COUNTERROLL, noun [counter and roll.]

1. In law, a counterpart or copy of the rolls, relating to appeals, inquests, etc.

2. As a verb, this word is contracted into control, which see.

COUNTERROLMENT, noun A counter account. [See Control.]

COUNTER-SALIANT, adjective In heraldry, is when two beasts are borne in a coat leaping from each other.

COUNTERSCARP, noun In fortification, the exterior talus or slope of the ditch, or the talus that supports the earth of the covered way; but it often signifies the whole covered way, with its parapet and glacis; as when it is said, the enemy have lodged themselves on the counterscarp

COUNTERSCUFFLE, noun Opposite scuffle; contest.

COUNTERSEAL, verb transitive To seal with another.

COUNTER-SECURE, verb transitive [counter and secure.] To secure one who has given security.

COUNTER-SECURITY, noun Security given to one who has entered into bonds or become surety for another.

COUNTERSENSE, noun Opposite meaning.

COUNTERSIGN, verb transitive [counter and sign.] Literally, to sign on the opposite side of an instrument or writing; hence, to sign, as secretary or other subordinate officer, a writing signed by a principal or superior, to attest the authenticity of the writing. Thus charters signed by a king are countersigned by a secretary. Bank notes signed by the president are countersigned by the cashier.

COUNTERSIGN, noun A private signal, word or phrase, given to soldiers on guard, with orders to let no man pass unless he first names that sign; a military watchword. Advance and give the countersign

COUNTERSIGNAL, noun A signal to answer or correspond to another; a naval term.

COUNTERSIGNED, participle passive Signed by a secretary or other subordinate officer.

COUNTERSIGNING, participle present tense Attesting by the signature of a subordinate officer.

COUNTERSTATUTE, noun A contrary statute, or ordinance.

COUNTERFOIL, COUNTERSTOCK noun That part of a tally struck in the Exchequer, which is kept by an officer in that court, the other being delivered to the person who has lent the king money on the account, and is called the stock.

COUNTERSTROKE, noun A contrary stroke; a stroke returned.

COUNTER-SURETY, noun A counterbond, or a surety to secure one that has given security.

COUNTERSWAY, noun Contrary sway; opposite influence.

COUNTERTALLY, noun A tally corresponding to another.

COUNTERTASTE, noun [counter and taste.] Opposite or false taste.

COUNTERTENOR, COUNTER, noun [counter and tenor.] In music, one of the middle parts, between the tenor and the treble; high tenor.

COUNTERTIDE, noun [counter and tide.] Contrary tide.

COUNTERTIME, noun [counter and time.]

1. In the manege, the defense or resistance of a horse that interrupts his cadence and the measure of his manege, occasioned by a bad horseman or the bad temper of the horse.

2. Resistance; opposition.

COUNTERTURN, noun The highth of a play, which puts an end to expectation.

COUNTERVAIL, verb transitive [counter and Latin , to avail or be strong.] To act against with equal force, or power; to equal; to act with equivalent effect against any thing; to balance; to compensate.

The profit will hardly countervail the inconveniences.

Although the enemy could not countervail the kings damage. Esther 7:4.

COUNTERVAIL, noun Equal weight or strength; power or value sufficient to obviate any effect; equal weight or value; compensation; requital.

COUNTERVAILED, participle passive Acted against with equal force or power; balanced; compensated.

COUNTERVAILING, participle present tense Opposing with equal strength or value; balancing; obviating an effect.

COUNTERVIEW, noun [counter and view.]

1. An opposite or opposing view; opposition; a posture in which two persons front each other.

2. Contrast; a position in which two dissimilar things illustrate each other by opposition.

COUNTERVOTE, verb transitive To vote in opposition; to outvote.

COUNTERWEIGH, verb transitive [See Weigh.] To weigh against; to counterbalance.

COUNTERWHEEL, verb transitive To cause to wheel in an opposite direction.

COUNTERWIND, noun Contrary wind.

COUNTERWORK. [See Work.] To work in opposition to; to counteract; to hinder any effect by contrary operations.

That counterworks each folly and caprice.

COUNTERWROUGHT, participle passive Counteracted; opposed by contrary action.

COUNTESS, noun [See count.] The consort of an earl or count.

COUNTING-HOUSE, COUNTING-ROOM, noun [See Count, the verb.] The house or room appropriated by merchants, traders and manufacturers to the business of keeping their books, accounts, letters and papers.

COUNTING-HOUSE, COUNTING-ROOM noun [See Count, the verb.] The house or room appropriated by merchants, traders and manufacturers to the business of keeping their books, accounts, letters and papers.

COUNTLESS, adjective [count and less.] That cannot be counted; not having the number ascertained, nor ascertainable; innumerable. The sands of the sea-shore are countless

COUNTRY, noun [Latin , land adjacent to a city. Hence the citizen says, let us go into the country The Latin has conterraneus, a countryman.]

1. Properly, the land lying about or near a city; the territory situated in the vicinity of a city. Our friend has a seat in the country a few miles from town. See Mark 5:1. Luke 8:26. Hence,

2. The whole territory of a kingdom or state, as opposed to city. We say, the gentleman has a seat in the country at any distance from town indefinitely. Hence,

3. Any tract of land, or inhabited land; any region, as distinguished from other regions; a kingdom, state or lesser district. We speak of all the countries of Europe or Asia.

And they came into the country of Moab. Ruth 1:1.

4. The kingdom , state or territory in which one is born; the land of nativity; or the particular district indefinitely in which one is born. America is my country or Connecticut is my country

Laban said, it must not be so done in our country Genesis 29:26.

5. The region in which one resides.

He sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country Hebrews 11:9.

6. Land, as opposed to water; or inhabited territory.

The shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country Acts 27:27.

7. The inhabitants of a region.

All the country wept with a loud voice. 2 Samuel 15:23.

8. A place of residence; a region of permanent habitation.

They declare plainly that they seek a country Hebrews 11:9.

They desire a better country a heavenly. Hebrews 11:9.

9. In law, a jury or jurors; as, trial by the country per pais.

COUNTRY, adjective

1. Pertaining to the country or territory at a distance from a city; rural; rustic; as a country town; a country seat; a country squire; a country life; the country party, as opposed to city party.

2. Pertaining or peculiar to ones own country

He spoke in his country language.

3. Rude; ignorant.

COUNTRY-dance, and erroneous orthography. [See Contra-dance.]

General references
Jude 5:1-31; 2 Samuel 10:12; Nehemiah 1:1-11; Nehemiah 2:1-20; Nehemiah 5:1-18; Psalms 137:1-6
Church, The Collective Body of Believers, Love for; Patriotism

COUNTRYMAN, noun

1. One born in the same country with another. This man is my countryman [See 2 Corinthians 11:26]

2. One who dwells in the country, as opposed to a citizen; a rustic; a farmer or husbandmen; a man of plain unpolished manners.

3. An inhabitant or native of a region. What countryman is he?

COUNT-WHEEL, noun The wheel in a clock which moves round and causes it to strike.

COUNTY, noun [Latin See Count.]

1. Originally, an earldom; the district or territory of a count or earl. Now, a circuit or particular portion of a state or kingdom, separated from the rest of the territory, for certain purposes in the administration of justice. It is called also a shire. [See Shire.] Each county has its sheriff and its court, with other officers employed in the administration of justice and the execution of the laws. In England there are fifty two counties, and in each is a Lord Lieutenant, who has command of the militia. The several states of America are divided by law into counties, in each of which is a county court of inferior jurisdiction; and in each, the supreme court of the state holds stated sessions.

2. A count; an earl or lord.

COUNTY court, the court whose jurisdiction is limited to a county whose powers, in America, depend on statutes. In England, it is incident to the jurisdiction of the sheriff.

COUNTY palatine, in England, is a county distinguished by particular privileges; so called a palatio, the palace, because the owner had originally royal powers, or the same powers in the administration of justice, as the king had in his palace; but their powers are not abridged. The counties palatine, in England, are Lancaster, Chester and Durham.

COUNTY corporate, is a county invested with particular privileges by charter or royal grant; as London, York, Bristol, etc.

COUNTY, adjective Pertaining to a county; as county court.