country

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a politically organized body of people under a single government
  2. noun the territory occupied by a nation
  3. noun the people who live in a nation or country

Etymology

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).

In classic literature

Synonyms

state, nation, land, commonwealth, res publica, body politic

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