Word: country Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *komterosder. Proto-Italic *komterād Latin contrā Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Latin -āta Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrāta Old French contreebor. Middle English contre English 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). Pronunciation: /ˈkʌntɹi/, [ˈkʰʌnt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷi], /ˈkʌntɹɪj/, /ˈkʊntɹi/, /ˈkʌntɾe/ 1. The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Example: 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 rich, Brazil is rich, Mexico is rich, Chile is rich; only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken; there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries. These countries are not underdeveloped; they're overexploited! 2. An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district. Labels: UK, countable, especially, uncountable Example: We walk along flat, open country, red dirt and spinifex grass, a few short trees[…]. 3. An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district. Labels: UK, countable, especially, uncountable Example: Thomas Hardy country Example: Hikers love the wild country that lies northwest of this river confluence. 4. A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside. Labels: uncountable Example: I was borne and brought up in the Countrie, and amidst husbandry[…]. Example: 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. 5. The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a scandal that rocked the country Example: For all the country, in a general voice, Cried hate upon him. 6. Traditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values. Labels: Australia, capitalized, countable, uncountable, usually Example: "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. Example: "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 right," said I. "Well," said Jack, "supposem Japanese come longa this country and you killem, you good man, but suppose Brinken come longa my country here, and I kill him, police man put me longa Fanny Bay for five years. That is the law." 7. Ellipsis of country music. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Example: a country song Example: a country singer 8. The spirit of the country (rural places): the spirit of country folkways; those folkways. Labels: countable, informal, uncountable Example: You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. 9. The rock through which a vein of ore or coal runs. Labels: countable, uncountable