Auglaize County, Ohio

Auglaize County, Ohio
County courthouse in Wapakoneta
Seal
Location in the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 14, 1848
Named for	Auglaize River
Seat	Wapakoneta
Largest city	Wapakoneta
Area
• Total	402 sq mi (1,041 km2)
• Land	401 sq mi (1,039 km2)
• Water	0.5 sq mi (1 km2), 0.1%
Population
• (2010)	45,949
• Density	114/sq mi (44/km²)
Congressional district	4th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.auglaizecounty.org

Auglaize County /ˈɔːɡleɪz/ is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,949. Its county seat is Wapakoneta.

The county is named for the Auglaize River. Some sources say it is a corruption of the French description of the clay (glaise) water (eau), whereas others say it comes from a Native American word meaning 'fallen timbers'. Another weak possibility according to Lakehistory.info is that it could have been the French term la glace [*aux glaces?], which means 'mirror', or 'ice' ['at the ices'?].

There is something to be said for the unattested eau glaise 'clay water' (as if 'dirty water'), like attested terre glaise 'clay soil', but both Ramsey and Stewart agree that Auglaize (and variants, implying "*aux glaises") is American French for 'at the lick(s)', literally 'at the clays', where wild beasts came to lick salt and minerals from the soil, and fulfilling the lacuna in standard French for a "salt lick." The spelling "glaize" is archaic (as in Cotgrave's French-English dictionary of 1611). In addition, in Arkansas there is a creek and mountain Glazypeau, from French glaise à Paul 'Paul's lick'. The assumed indigenous American (Algonquian) "'fallen timbers' or 'overgrown with brush'" has no support without any attested etymons supplied and would not match phonetically in the case of Shawnee.

Auglaize County comprises the Wapakoneta, OH Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Lima-Van Wert-Celina, OH Combined Statistical Area.