country

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

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.

• 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: (UK, US, Canada) -ʌntɹi

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: coun‧try

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.]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:country

   • 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, published 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.

4. (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.

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

   a country song

   a country singer

   a country festival

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

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.

See also Thesaurus:country.

• Appendix:Countries of the world

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.
3. (India, historical) Originating in India rather than being imported from Europe or elsewhere.
   • 1872, Silk in India (page 16)

     We have seen that the Company manufactured silk stuffs at three of its Residencies, but from country-wound silk.

   • 1884, Journal of the United Service Institution of India (page 185)

     A reference to the Annual Administration Reports of the Department of Horse-breeding Operations […] will allow of the opinion being arrived at, that the breed of country horses under the present regime is steadily improving.

   • 1937, Brigadier-General H. A. Young, The East India Company’s Arsenals & Manufactories

     Country harness costs nearly as much, lasts half the time, and is in every respect inferior. It is understood that the only reason is that the Court desires to improve and encourage Indian manufactures.

• 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

• kantri

Unadapted borrowing from English country.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑntri/, [ˈkɑn̪t̪ri]

country

1. country music

• countrymusiikki
• kantrimusiikki

From English. Doublet of contrée.

• IPA^(key): /kœ̃.tʁi/

country m (uncountable)

1. country music

Unadapted borrowing from English country.

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

country m (invariable)

1. (music) country music

Borrowed from English country music.

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

country n (indeclinable)

1. country, country music

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

Unadapted borrowing from English country.

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

country m (uncountable)

1. country music

Unadapted borrowing from English country.

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

1. country (music)

English. Doublet of contrada.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkantɾi/ [ˈkãn̪.t̪ɾi]
• Rhymes: -antɾi

country m (uncountable)

1. country music

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

From English.

country c (uncountable)

1. country music