1) Latin word = company, used to refer to the close companions of a lord or king. The usage is a 19c reapplication of the word comitatus, taken from the description in Germania by Tacitus (d. 120) of the Germanic warrior band loyal to their lord. Such loyalty is exemplified later in the OldEngl. poem The Battle of Maldon, which relates the struggles of the household warriors and their loyalty to their *ealdorman in the battle of 991, also mentioned in *ASC. A further example was at the Battle of Hastings, in 1066, after the death of King Harold II. Harold's family and their closest retainers were all killed, refusing to leave the body of their dead king and wanting to avenge his death.
2) After the Conquest, this word was used as the Latin translation of 'shire', i.e. the modern *'county'. -
Cf. Totus comitatus
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.