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Country

//ˈkɐntɹi// adj, noun, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
From or in the countryside, connected with it, or typical of it.
"Things around here are just a little more country than what he's used to."
2
Of or connected to country music.
"They're mainly a hard rock band, but their new album sounds kinda country to me."
3
Originating in India rather than being imported from abroad. India
"We have seen that the Company manufactured silk stuffs at three of its Residencies, but from country-wound silk."

Noun

1
The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc. countable, uncountable
"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."
2
the people who live in a nation or country wordnet
3
An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district. British, countable, especially, uncountable
"We walk along flat, open country, red dirt and spinifex grass, a few short trees[…]."
4
a politically organized body of people under a single government wordnet
5
An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.; An area of land of indefinite extent or of more or less definite extent in relation to human occupation, especially characterized by its particular physical features, or its suitability for a particular activity or connected with its population (by race, dialect, culture, etc.) or a person, especially a writer, or their works. British, countable, especially, uncountable
"Thomas Hardy country"

Show 9 more definitions

6
a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography) wordnet
7
A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside. uncountable
"I was borne and brought up in the Countrie, and amidst husbandry[…]."
8
the territory occupied by a nation wordnet
9
The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public. countable, uncountable
"For all the country, in a general voice, Cried hate upon him."
10
an area outside of cities and towns wordnet
11
Traditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values. Australia, capitalized, countable, uncountable, usually
""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."
12
Ellipsis of country music. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
"a country song"
13
The spirit of the country (rural places): the spirit of country folkways; those folkways. countable, informal, uncountable
"you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy"
14
The rock through which a vein of ore or coal runs. countable, uncountable

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English contre, contree, contreie, from Old French contree, cuntrede, from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrata (“(land) lying opposite; (land) spread before one”) (also in Medieval Latin as "country, region"), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) (whence contra-). Cognate with Scots kintra. Unrelated to county. Displaced native English land in some of its senses. From around 1300 as "area surrounding a walled city or town; the open country." By early 16th century the sense was applied mostly to rural areas, as opposed to towns and cities. Compare typologically Russian страна́ (straná), сторона́ (storoná).

Etymology 2

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