country

Syllables: coun·try/ˈkʌntɹi/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈkʌntɹɪj/

country noun: the territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc. Also the ellipsis of country music.

Noun

country (countable and uncountable, plural countries)

The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.
- 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.1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court
- But that expropriation of the Third World, [that] has been going on for 400 years, brings us to another revelation: namely, that the Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich: the Philippines are...1986 April 15, Michael Parenti, 02:53 from the start, in U.S. interventionism, the Third World, and the USSR, Boulder, Colorado
A large area regarded as distinct from other areas, e.g. because it is inhabited by a specific group of people
- Basque Country
(UK, especially) An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.
- We walk along flat, open country, red dirt and spinifex grass, a few short trees[…].2010 March 7, David Vann, The Observer
1. (UK, especially) An area of land of indefinite extent or of more or less definite extent in relation to human occupation, especially characterized by its particular physical features, or its suitability for a particular activity or connected with its population (by race, dialect, culture, etc.) or a person, especially a writer, or their works.
  - Thomas Hardy country
  - Hikers love the wild country that lies northwest of this river confluence.
(uncountable, usually preceded by “the”) A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside.
- I was borne and brought up in the Countrie, and amidst husbandry[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- Joyce Barnaby: You don't kill someone because they made you redundant.
  DCI Tom Barnaby: Not in the town, dear, but this is the country. And, in the country, anything goes.1999 September 12, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Dead Man's Eleven”, in Midsomer Murders
The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public.
- a scandal that rocked the country
- For all the country, in a general voice,
  Cried hate upon him.c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 1, sourced from Open Source Shakespeare, line 2344
(Australia, capitalized, usually) Traditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values.
- "Me like my country — no much too hot, no much too cold. By and bye, white fellow come — soldier-man come. White fellow say, this our land, that our land — ALL country our land. Black fellow say no! my country no white fellow's country, and black fellow take spear.1842 February 16, The Inquirer, Perth, page 5, column 2
- "Yewi," he said, "me bin longa Fanny Bay gaol five years." On my asking why they put him in gaol he replied. "Australia your country, ain't it?" I replied, "Yes, him my country all right." "Well," he then said, "this my country here. Brinken country other side of the river ain't it?" "That's...1945 September 27, The Chronicle, Adelaide, page 35, column 4
(informal) The spirit of the country (rural places): the spirit of country folkways; those folkways.
- You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.
The rock through which a vein of ore or coal runs.

Adjective

country (comparative countrier or more country, superlative countriest or most country)

From or in the countryside, connected with it, or typical of it.
- Things around here are just a little more country than what he's used to.
- 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.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
Of or connected to country music.
- They're mainly a hard rock band, but their new album sounds kinda country to me.
(India) Originating in India rather than being imported from abroad.
- We have seen that the Company manufactured silk stuffs at three of its Residencies, but from country-wound silk.1872, Silk in India, page 16
- 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.1884, Journal of the United Service Institution of India, page 185
Synonyms:

native

Also used as

country is also the ellipsis of country music.

country meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

country in Hindi

region of land: देश deś, मुल्क mulk, किशवर kiśvar
nation state: देश deś, राष्ट्र rāṣṭra
the country, rural area, as opposed to the town or city: देहात dehāt

country in Tamil

region of land: நாடு nāṭu
nation state: நாடு nāṭu
the country, rural area, as opposed to the town or city: நாடு nāṭu, நாட்டுப்புறம் nāṭṭuppuṟam
country music: நாட்டு nāṭṭu

country in Marathi

region of land: देश deś
nation state: देश deś

country in Urdu

region of land: مُلْک mulk, دیش deś, کِشْوَر kiśvar
nation state: مُلْک mulk, دیش deś, راشْٹْر rāśṭr
the country, rural area, as opposed to the town or city: دیہات dehāt

More languagesFewer languages

country in Bengali: দেশ deś, রাষ্ট্র raśṭro
country in Telugu: దేశం dēśaṁ, దేశము dēśamu
country in Malayalam: നാട് nāṭŭ, രാജ്യം rājyaṁ, നാട്ടുമ്പുറം nāṭṭumpuṟaṁ, ഗ്രാമം grāmaṁ
country in Kannada: ದೇಶದ dēśada, ದೇಶ dēśa, ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರ rāṣṭra
country in Punjabi: ਦੇਸ਼ deś, ਮੂਲਕ mūlak, ਰਾਸ਼ਟਰ rāśṭar
country in Gujarati: દેશ deś, દેસ des
country in Odia: ଦେଶ deśa
country in Sanskrit: देश deśa, जनपद janapada, प्रदेश pradeśa, राष्ट्र rāṣṭra
country in Sinhala: රට raṭa
country in Assamese: দেশ dex
country in Nepali: देश deś
country in Pashto: هېواد hewād, مملکت mamlakat
country in Tagalog: bansa
country in Arabic: بَلَد balad, أَرْض ʔarḍ, دَار dār, منطقة manṭeʔa
country in Malay: bangsa, negara, nasional, pedalaman
country in Indonesian: bangsa, negara, desa
country in Persian: کِشْوَر kešvar, دِیار diyâr, میهَن mihan, سَرْزَمین sarzamin
country in Thai: ประเทศ bprà-têet, เมือง mʉʉang, ชาติ châat, รัฐ rát
country in Vietnamese: đất nước, quốc gia, miền quê, nông thôn
country in Myanmar: ပြည်နိုင်ငံ pranynuingngam, ပြည် prany, နိုင်ငံ nuingngam
Sindhi: ملڪ mlk
Kashmiri: مُلک mulk

Examples of country in a sentence

Since this was rebel country, checkpoints were set up along the road.
I grew up in the country with a 12-gauge shotgun.
It is a beautiful country of rolling hills, fertile valleys, and a thousand rivers and streams which keep the landscape green even in winter.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 3:
Volkswagen, the country’s leading carmaker, wants to be the world’s biggest by 2018.2010, The Economist, 3 Feb 2011
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.2000 March 4, Alexander Chancellor, The Guardian:
She grew up in Chang-hua, a city in central Taiwan with a decidedly country flavor.2006 May, James B. Weld, Difficulties in Learning English as a Second or Foreign Language, Regis University, page 37:

All 40 example sentences with country

Synonyms of country

native
sovereign country
sovereign state

Forms of country

Noun
plural	countries
alternative pronunciation-spelling	counthry
alternative form (archaic)	contree
alternative form (archaic)	countrey
alternative form (obsolete)	contrey
alternative form (obsolete)	countre
alternative form (obsolete)	countrie
alternative form (obsolete)	counterie
alternative pronunciation-spelling (derogatory)	cuntry
Adjective
comparative	countrier
comparative	more country
superlative	countriest
superlative	most country

Plural of country: countries

Origin of country

Inherited from Middle English contre, borrowed from Old French contree, from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrāta (“facing land”), from Latin contrā (“against”) + -āta (noun-forming suffix). Cognate with Scots kintra. Unrelated to county. Displaced native English land in some of its senses. From around 1300 as "area surrounding a walled city or town; the open country." By early 16th century the sense was applied mostly to rural areas, as opposed to towns and cities. Compare typologically Russian страна́ (straná), сторона́ (storoná).

Words formed from country

Phrases with country

119 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about country

What does country mean?: Country means the territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.
What is country in Hindi?: Country in Hindi is देश (deś), मुल्क (mulk), किशवर (kiśvar). See Country meaning in Hindi.
How do you use country in a sentence?: Since this was rebel country, checkpoints were set up along the road.
What part of speech is country?: Country can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce country?: Country is pronounced /ˈkʌntɹi/ (UK).
What is the plural of country?: The plural of country is countries.

Words near country in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: country (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-country.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-country.wav.

Cite this entry: “country.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/country. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.