A county in the middle of England, inland, made up mostly of fields, villages, and small towns rather than a famous big city. Northampton is the main town the county is named after. On maps it sits in the Midlands, not on the sea and not in the far north despite the North- in the name — that North- belonged to the old town, “the north home farm/settlement,” long before it named the whole county. English people often shorten it to Northants in writing. It is a real place you can drive through and see farmland for a long stretch, which is why learner dictionaries mention the fields. You meet the name in addresses, sports teams, and travel, not as a word you conjugate.