country
A2Meanings
-
1
noun
the people who live in a nation or country
The country was passionate about their heritage.
-
2
noun
a politically organized body of people under a single government
The country decided to elect a new leader.
-
3
noun
a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary, usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people, culture, or geography
My country had a rich history of bread-making.
-
4
noun
an area outside of cities and towns
My poetry celebrates the slower pace of life in the country.
-
5
noun
The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.
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.
-
6
noun
An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.
We walk along flat, open country, red dirt and spinifex grass, a few short trees[…].
-
7
noun
A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside.
I was borne and brought up in the Countrie, and amidst husbandry[…].
-
8
noun
The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public.
For all the country, in a general voice, Cried hate upon him.
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…
View etymology graph →