country

Alternative forms

• contree, countrey (archaic)
• contrey, countre, countrie, counterie (obsolete)
• counthry (pronunciation spelling)
• cuntry (eye dialect, derogatory)

Etymology

From Middle English contre, contree, contreie, from Old French contree, from Vulgar Latin (terra) contrāta (“(land) lying opposite; (land) spread before”), derived from Latin contra (“against, opposite”). Cognate with Scots kintra. Unrelated to county. Displaced native English land in some of its senses.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kŭn'tri
  • (UK, US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌntɹi/, [ˈkʰʌnt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷi]

    • Audio (UK):

      (file)

    • Audio (US):

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  • (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɐntɹi/
• (common in ESL) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊntɹi/
• Hyphenation: coun‧try
• Rhymes: (UK, US, Canada) -ʌntɹi

Noun

country (plural countries)

1. The territory of a nation, especially an independent nation state or formerly independent nation; a political entity asserting ultimate authority over a geographical area; a sovereign state. [from 14th c.]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:country

   • 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court:

     By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 3:

     It is a beautiful country of rolling hills, fertile valleys, and a thousand rivers and streams which keep the landscape green even in winter.

   • 2010, The Economist, 3 Feb 2011:

     These days corporate Germany looks rather different. Volkswagen, the country’s leading carmaker, wants to be the world’s biggest by 2018.

   • 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:

     The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.

2. A set region of land having particular human occupation or agreed limits, especially inhabited by members of the same race, speakers of the same language etc., or associated with a given person, occupation, species etc. [from 13th c.]
   • 2007 February 17, Chris Moss, The Guardian:

     This is condor country – the only region this far east where you can see the magnificent vulture – and a small national park straddling the passes, El Condorito, is a good stopover for walkers and birders.

4. (uncountable, usually preceded by “the”) A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside. [from 16th c.]
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     I was borne and brought up in the Countrie, and amidst husbandry […].

   • 2000 March 4, Alexander Chancellor, The Guardian:

     I have always thought that one of the main reasons for the popularity of blood sports in the country is the pointlessness of going outdoors with no purpose or destination in mind.

   • 2006 May, James B. Weld, Difficulties in Learning English as a Second or Foreign Language‎, Regis University, page 37:

     She grew up in Chang-hua, a city in central Taiwan with a decidedly country flavor.

5. (chiefly British) An area of land; a district, region. [from 13th c.]
   • 2010 March 7, David Vann, The Observer:

     We walk along flat, open country, red dirt and spinifex grass, a few short trees […].

6. (Australia, usually capitalised) Traditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values.
   • 1842 February 16, The Inquirer, Perth, page 5, column 2:

     "Me like my country — no much too hot, no much too cold. By and bye, white fellow come — soldier-man come. White fellow say, this our land, that our land — ALL country our land. Black fellow say no! my country no white fellow's country, and black fellow take spear.

   • 1945 September 27, The Chronicle, Adelaide, page 35, column 4:

     "Yewi," he said, "me bin longa Fanny Bay gaol five years." On my asking why they put him in gaol he replied. "Australia your country, ain't it?" I replied, "Yes, him my country all right." "Well," he then said, "this my country here. Brinken country other side of the river ain't it?" "That's right," said I. "Well," said Jack, "supposem Japanese come longa this country and you killem, you good man, but suppose Brinken come longa my country here, and I kill him, police man put me longa Fanny Bay for five years. That is the law."

   • 2008 July 23, The Torres News, page 5, column 1:

     "It demonstrates that having Indigenous people on country managing their lands, delivering environmental benefits for all Australians is an important asset for the national good."

   • 2015 March 11, Calla Wahlquist, “Of three remote communities here, why are only the two Aboriginal ones under threat?”, in The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-10-07:

     Milgin says living on country, with elders, makes Aboriginal people "strong". That's backed up by a 2011 report on Aboriginal homelands by Amnesty International that found that living on homelands was connected to better health outcomes and drug rehabilitation.

   • 2021 July 8, The Air Force News, page 16, column 2:

     What country do you live/work on? I work on Yuggera Yuggarapul country and I'm from Darwin, Larrakia country.

7. Ellipsis of country music. [from 20th c.]

   a country song

   a country singer

   a country festival

8. (mining) The rock through which a vein runs.

Adjective

country (not comparable)

1. From or in the countryside or connected with it.
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit, Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper.

2. Of or connected to country music.
3. (India, historical) Originating in India rather than being imported from Europe or elsewhere.
   • 1872, Silk in India, page 16:

     We have seen that the Company manufactured silk stuffs at three of its Residencies, but from country-wound silk.

   • 1884, Journal of the United Service Institution of India, page 185:

     A reference to the Annual Administration Reports of the Department of Horse-breeding Operations […] will allow of the opinion being arrived at, that the breed of country horses under the present regime is steadily improving.

   • 1937, Brigadier-General H. A. Young, The East India Company’s Arsenals & Manufactories:

     Country harness costs nearly as much, lasts half the time, and is in every respect inferior. It is understood that the only reason is that the Court desires to improve and encourage Indian manufactures.

References

• “country”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• country in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "country" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 81.
• “country”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kau̯ntri/ [kãũ̯n̪.t̪ri]
• Rhymes: -au̯ntri

Noun

country inan

1. country music

Further reading

• “country”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia

Alternative forms

• kantri

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English country.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑntri/, [ˈkɑ̝n̪.t̪ri]
• Rhymes: -ɑntri

Noun

country

1. country music

Further reading

• “country”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Etymology

From English. Doublet of contrée.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kœ̃.tʁi/

Noun

country m (uncountable)

1. country music