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.

• • (British, America, Canada) IPA: /ˈkʌntɹi/, [ˈkʰʌnt̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷi]
  • (AuE, New Zealand) IPA: /ˈkɐntɹi/
• (common in ESL) IPA: /ˈkaʊntɹi/

country (plural countries)

1. 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: Thesaurus:country

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: 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.

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.]
3. (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 ↗:

     I was borne and brought up in the Countrie, and amidst husbandry […].

4. (chiefly Britain) An area of land; a district, region. [from 13th c.]
5. (Australia, usually capitalised) Traditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values.
   • 2015 March 11, Calla Wahlquist, “Of three remote communities here, why are only the two Aboriginal ones under threat?”, in The Guardian‎^{[https://web.archive.org/web/20221007031547/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/11/of-three-remote-communities-here-why-are-only-the-two-aboriginal-ones-under-threat]}, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN ↗, →OCLC ↗, archived from the original ↗ on 2022-10-07:

     Milgin says living on country, with elders, makes Aboriginal people "strong". That's backed up by a 2011 report on Aboriginal homelands by Amnesty International that found that living on homelands was connected to better health outcomes and drug rehabilitation.

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

   a country song

   a country singer

   a country festival

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

• French: pays, contrée
• German: Land
• Italian: paese, landa
• Portuguese: país, nação
• Russian: страна́
• Spanish: país

• French: pays, contrée
• German: Land; Staat; Vaterland
• Italian: paese, nazione, patria, stato
• Portuguese: país, nação, países
• Russian: страна́
• Spanish: país

• French: campagne
• German: Land; Landschaft; Region
• Italian: campo, campagna
• Portuguese: campo, interior
• Russian: дере́вня
• Spanish: campo, campaña, campiña, provincia

• French: country
• German: Country
• Portuguese: country
• Russian: ка́нтри
• Spanish: ranchera

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 ↗:

     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.

• French: de la campagne, de province, de la contrée, campagnard
• German: ländlich, Land-
• Italian: di campagna, rurale
• Portuguese: rural, campestre, do campo, grosseiro
• Russian: дереве́нский
• Spanish: campo, campesino, campestre, provincia, provinciano