country

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkʌn.tri/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English contre, borrowed from Old French contree or cuntree (“region, district”),^[2][3] from Vulgar Latin *contrāta, short for *terra contrāta (“land lying opposite”), the landscape spread out before the viewer,^[2][4][5] from Latin contrā (“opposite, against”).^[2][6] Italian contrada and other Romance words have the same source,^[7][3] and German Gegend (“region”), from gegen (“against”), was formed on its model.^[3] The native English word was land.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One's native land (probably before 1250).^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

About 1300 country came to mean any region, sometimes with a sense of political organization, and also the open land round a walled town,^[2] and the territory of a nation is also recorded about 1300.^[3][8] The people of a country are so called from about 1300.^[2] By the early 16th century the word was applied mainly to rural areas as opposed to towns,^[2][8] and the adjective took on the sense “rural”, often with a hint of “unpolished”, by the 1520s.^[2] A country mouse (mid-16th century) recalls Aesop's fable of the town mouse and the country mouse.^[9] Country air “fresh air” is from the 1630s,^[2] country club from 1886 (American),^[2] country mile from 1915,^[2] country and western from 1942 and country music from 1968.^[2][3] Lloyd George's promise of “a fit country for heroes to live in” dates from 1918.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1250 – one's native land.^[3]
• 1279 – Contreman as a surname.^[3]
• c. 1300 – a region, a nation's territory, and its people.^[2][3]
• before 1387 – adjective.^[3]
• c. 1450 – countryside.^[3]
• early 16th century – rural areas as opposed to towns.^[2]
• 1520s – adjective, rural.^[2]
• mid-16th century – country mouse.^[9]
• 1630s – country air.^[2]
• 1653 – countrified.^[3]
• 1886 – country club.^[2]
• 1915 – country mile.^[2]
• 1942 – country and western.^[2]
• 1968 – country music.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A nation or state, or its territory.
2. The people of a nation: the country went to the polls.
3. The land of one's birth or citizenship.
4. A region with distinct features: hill country.
5. Rural districts, away from towns: live in the country.
6. A jury.
7. Country music.

Adjective

1. Of or typical of the countryside: a country cottage.
2. Of country music.

Word family

• countryish

Related words

• countrify
• counter
• contra-
• contrary
• encounter
• countryside

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press