Country

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkʌntɹi/

Definitions

1. A distinct nation with its own government, territory, and inhabitants ; a rural area outside cities and towns characterized by open land and small communities ; the people and culture associated with a particular nation or rural region
2. A sovereign state recognized by its borders and political structure ; an area primarily used for farming or undeveloped land away from urban centers ; the community, customs, and identity shared by the inhabitants of a nation or countryside
3. A political and geographic entity governed independently from others ; a countryside region promoting natural landscapes and farming ; the population and traditions belonging to a national or rural environment

Etymology: The English word came into the language around 1300, meaning the open land lying outside a walled city or town. Its ancestor was Latin "contrata," formed from "contra" (against, facing) and a noun-forming suffix, so the original sense was roughly "facing land," the territory that faces you as you approach a settlement. It arrived through Old French "contree," which carried the same idea into Middle English as "contre." The word's meaning then narrowed. By the early 1500s it was applied mostly to rural areas as opposed to towns and cities, which is why a "country" could mean the fields and villages beyond the urban walls. The broader sense of a nation or state developed from the same root and is the one most people use today. English had its own native words for land, and "country" displaced some of them in certain senses. It is not related to "county," despite the look of the two words.

Synonyms: nation, state, land, region, territory

Antonyms: city, metropolis, urban area, town, suburb