county town

English

Noun

county town (plural county towns)

1. The administrative town of a county in Ireland or the United Kingdom.
   • 2023 June 28, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: Alton to Exeter”, in RAIL, number 986, page 59:

     Wiltshire actually comes from Wiltonshire, for Wilton was once a county town, royal residence and bishopric - a place of significance.

2. A similar type of town in China.

Usage notes

• If the county town happens to have city status, it is still referred to as the county town, never the county city.
• A few eponymic towns (e.g. Buckingham, Derby, Lancaster, York) are not the county towns of their counties.

Related terms

• county seat

Translations

administrative town of a county

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 郡首府 (jùnshǒufǔ)

• Finnish: kreivikunnan pääkaupunki
• French: chef-lieu de département (fr) m (in France)
• Irish: baile contae m, príomhbhaile contae m
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: residensstad (sv) c, länshuvudstad c (Finland Swedish)
• Welsh: tref sirol f

similar type of town in China

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 縣城／县城 (zh) (xiànchéng)

• Finnish: piirikunnan pääkaupunki
• Irish: baile contae m, príomhbhaile contae m
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can