Country
adj, noun, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 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
- 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."
Example
More examples"Italy is a very beautiful country."
Etymology
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).