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Suburb vs County - What's the difference?

suburb | county |

As nouns the difference between suburb and county

is that suburb is the area on the periphery of a city or large town 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.

suburb

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The area on the periphery of a city or large town.
  • * Hallam
    • [London] could hardly have contained less than thirty or forty thousand souls within its walls; and the suburbs were very populous.
  • (by extension) The outer part; the environment.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
    • the suburbs of sorrow
  • * Milton
    • the suburb of their straw-built citadel
  • (AU, NZ) Any subdivision of a conurbation, not necessarily on the periphery.

    • Derived terms

    * suburbia * suburbian * suburban * burb

    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.