country definition

English country definition

Alternative forms

• contree, countrey (archaic)
• contrey, countre, countrie (obsolete)
• counthry (pronunciation spelling)

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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kŭn'tri
  • (UK, US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌntɹi/, [ˈkʰʌnt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷi], /ˈkʌntɹɪ/
  • (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɐntɹi/
• (common in ESL) IPA^(key): /ˈkaʊntɹi/
• Rhymes: -ʌntɹi

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: coun‧try

Noun

country (plural countries)

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

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

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, Chris Moss, The Guardian, 17 Feb 2007:

     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.

3. 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.]
   • 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, Abacus 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.

5. (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 946730821:

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

   • 2000, Alexander Chancellor, The Guardian, 4 Mar.:

     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.

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

   a country song

   a country singer

   a country festival

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

Usage notes

The geographical sense of "country" usually refers to a sovereign state, that is, a nation with no administrative dependence on another one, which is the definition adopted in most world maps. In a broader sense, however, "country" may also refer to nations with some degree of autonomy and cultural identity but still under the sovereignty of another state. Examples of the latter include Scotland, Tibet, Abkhazia, and Greenland.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Countries of the world

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 222716698:

     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.

Translations

References

• country at 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.

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Finnish country definition

Alternative forms

• kantri

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English country.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑntri/, [ˈkɑn̪t̪ri]

Noun

country

1. country music

Declension

Inflection of country (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		country	—
genitive		countryn	—
partitive		countrya	—
illative		countryyn	—
		singular	plural
nominative		country	—
accusative	nom.	country	—
	gen.	countryn
genitive		countryn	—
partitive		countrya	—
inessive		countryssa	—
elative		countrysta	—
illative		countryyn	—
adessive		countrylla	—
ablative		countrylta	—
allative		countrylle	—
essive		countryna	—
translative		countryksi	—
instructive		—	—
abessive		countrytta	—
comitative		—	—

Possessive forms of country (type valo)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	countryni	countrymme
2nd person	countrysi	countrynne
3rd person	countrynsa

Synonyms

• countrymusiikki
• kantrimusiikki

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French country definition

Etymology

From English. Doublet of contrée.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kœ̃.tʁi/

Noun

country m (uncountable)

1. country music

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Italian country definition

Etymology

From English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkawn.tri/, (careful style) /ˈkan.tri/^[1]
• Rhymes: -awntri, (careful style) -antri

Noun

country m (invariable)

1. (music) country music

References

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Polish country definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English country music.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkan.trɨ/
• Rhymes: -antrɨ
• Syllabification: coun‧try

Noun

country n (indeclinable)

1. country, country music

Derived terms

Further reading

• country in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• country in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese country definition

Etymology

Borrowed from English country.

The pronunciation reflects the incorrect belief that the <oun> represents /aʊn/ in the English etymon.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw̃.tɾi/

Noun

country m (uncountable)

1. country music

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Romanian country definition

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English country.

Adjective

country m or n (feminine singular countryă, masculine plural countryi, feminine and neuter plural countrye)

1. country (music)

Declension

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Spanish country definition

Etymology

English. Doublet of contrada.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkantɾi/, [ˈkãn̪.t̪ɾi]

Noun

country m (uncountable)

1. country music

Further reading

• “country”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

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Swedish country definition

Etymology

From English.

Noun

country c (uncountable)

1. country music

Declension

Declension of country
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	country	countryn	—	—
Genitive	countrys	countryns	—	—