Etymologically
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country

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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
  • 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