different between county vs marquis

English

Etymology

From Middle English countee, counte, conte, from Anglo-Norman counté, Old French conté (French comté), from Latin comit?tus (“jurisdiction of a count”), from comes (“count, earl”). Cognate with Spanish condado (“county”). Doublet of comitatus, borrowed directly from Latin.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ka?nti/
• Rhymes: -a?nti

Noun

county (countable and uncountable, plural counties)

1. (historical) The land ruled by a count or a countess.
2. An administrative region of various countries, including Bhutan, Canada, China, Croatia, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and 48 of the 50 United States (excluding Alaska and Louisiana).
3. A definitive geographic region, without direct administrative functions.

   traditional county

4. (US, slang, uncountable) A jail operated by a county government.

Usage notes

• In US usage, counties are almost always designated as such, with the word "County" capitalized and following the name — e.g., "Lewis County", rarely "Lewis", and never "County Lewis".
• In British and Irish usage, counties are referenced without designation — e.g. "Kent" and never "Kent County". Exceptions are; Durham, which is often "County Durham" (but never "Durham County"); and the counties of Ireland. An organisation such as Kent County Council is the "County Council" of "Kent" and not the "Council" of "Kent County".
• In Canadian usage, counties are typically designated as such, with the word "County" capitalized and usually preceding the name — e.g., "the County of Two Hills". Occasionally, "County" follows the name, as in "Sturgeon County".

Derived terms

Related terms

• count

Descendants

• ? German: County

Translations

See also

• shire

Adjective

county (comparative more county, superlative most county)

1. Characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.
   • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society 2010, p. 274:

     She was a tall girl and county, with Hilary's walk: she seemed to topple even when she sat.

English

Alternative forms

• marquess

Etymology

From French marquis, from Old French markis, marchis, from Late Latin marchensis, from Old High German marcha and Frankish *marku, from Proto-Germanic *mark?, from Proto-Indo-European *mar?- (“edge, boundary”).

Meaning is “lord of the march”, in sense of march (“border country”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m??.kw?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /m??.?ki/, /?m??.kw?s/
• (General American, for the plural spelled marquis) IPA^(key): /m??.?kiz/

Noun

marquis (plural marquises or marquis)

1. A nobleman in England, France, and Germany, of a rank next below that of duke, but above a count. Originally, the marquis was an officer whose duty was to guard the marches or frontiers of the kingdom. The office has ceased, and the name is now a mere title conferred by letters patent or letters close.
2. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Bassarona.

Derived terms

• marchioness
• marquee
• marquisate

Translations

Anagrams

• asquirm

Catalan

Verb

marquis

1. second-person singular present subjunctive form of marcar

French

Etymology

Old French marchis, from the same origin as marcher.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma?.ki/

Noun

marquis m (plural marquis, feminine marquise)

1. marquess (title of nobility)

Further reading

• “marquis” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).