Etymologically
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rural

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈrʊə.rəl/, US /ˈrʊr.əl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French rural, Old French rural (14th century),[2][3] from Latin rūrālis (“of the countryside”),[2][3][4] from rūs (genitive rūris) “open land, country”,[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *reue- (“to open; space”),[2] the root of room.[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of persons, “living in the country”: 1412–20 in the OED,[6] the early 15th century in Etymonline.[2] Barnhart's first example, rual “common, lowly, unlearned”, is before 1420 in Lydgate's Troy Book, and “of farm work” probably before 1425.[3]

Semantic evolution

A rural dean is from about 1450.[6] Other 15th-century senses were “lowly, unlearned, uncouth, unpolished”,[2] and the noun, a country person, is from the mid-15th century.[2] Of poetry or music suited to the country it is from about 1470,[6] and “characteristic of country folk” from 1513.[6] The general sense “of the country as opposed to the town” is from the 1580s.[2] The OED notes that rural and rustic at first meant much the same, but rural came to be used for locality and country scenes, rustic for the primitive manners of country life.[2][4] Rural free delivery of mail is from 1892 in American English.[3]

Timeline

  • 1412–20 – living in the country.[6]
  • c. 1450 – rural dean.[6]
  • mid-15th century – noun, a country person.[2]
  • 1513 – rustic.[6]
  • 1580s – of the countryside generally.[2]
  • 1892 – rural free delivery.[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to or typical of the countryside rather than the town.
  2. Of or relating to people who live in the country.
  3. Of or relating to farming; agricultural.

Word family

  • rurally
  • rurality
  • ruralism
  • ruralist
  • ruralize

Usage notes

The American Heritage distinguishes rural, for thinly settled or farming country, from bucolic, often facetious about country people, rustic, which suggests a lack of sophistication or artless simplicity, and pastoral, which calls up the charm and serenity of shepherds' country.[7]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin