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Colony vs County - What's the difference?

colony | county |

As nouns the difference between colony and county

is that colony is a settlement of emigrants who move to a new place, but remain culturally tied to their original place of origin while county is the land ruled by a count or a countess.

As an adjective county is

characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.

colony

English

Noun

(colonies)
  • A settlement of emigrants who move to a new place, but remain culturally tied to their original place of origin
  • Region or governmental unit created by another country and generally ruled by another country.
  • * Bermuda is a crown colony of Great Britain .
  • A group of people with the same interests or ethnic origin concentrated in a particular geographic area
  • * The in Iowa were settled by people from Germany
  • A group of organisms of same or different species living together in close association.
  • * ant colony
  • * The Portuguese Man O' War (Physalia physalis), also known as the bluebubble, bluebottle or the man-of-war, is commonly thought of as a jellyfish but is actually a siphonophore — a colony of specialized polyps and medusoids. Wikipedia article on (w, Portuguese Man o' War)
  • A collective noun for rabbits.

    • Derived terms

    * colonial (adj., n.) * colonialism (n.) * colonise, colonize * colonist (n.) * colonyhood (n.) * Cologne (city, n.) * penal colony * space colony

    Related terms

    * Crown colony * cult * culture

    county

    English

    Noun

    (counties)
  • (historical) The land ruled by a count or a countess.
  • An administrative region of various countries, including Bhutan, Canada, China, Croatia, France, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro and Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
  • A definitive geographic region, without direct administrative functions.
    • traditional county

    Usage notes

    * In American 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 usage, counties are referenced without designation — e.g. "Kent" and never "Kent County". The exception is Durham, which is often "County Durham" (but never "Durham County"). An organisation such as Kent County Council is the "County Council" of "Kent" and not the "Council" of "Kent County". * In Irish usage, counties are frequently referenced, but like Durham precede the name — e.g., "County Cork" or "Cork" and never "Cork County."

    Derived terms

    * countyhood * countywide * another county heard from * traditional county

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Characteristic of a ‘county family’; representative of the gentry or aristocracy of a county.
  • *1979 , , 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.