Online Encyclopedia

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 316 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COUNTRY (from the
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Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree;
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Late
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Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of
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land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)
  , an extent of
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land without definite limits, or such a region with some
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peculiar character, as the " black country," the " fen country " and the like . The extension from such descriptive limitation to the limitation of occupation by particular owners or races is easy; this gives the
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common use of the word for the land inhabited by a particular nation or
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race . Another meaning is that
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part of the land not occupied by towns, " rural " as opposed to " urban " districts; this appears too in " country-house " and " country
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town "; so too " countryman " is used both for a rustic and for the native of a particular land . The word appears in many phrases, in the sense of the whole population of a country, and especially of the general
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body of electors, as in the expression " go to the country," for the dissolution of parliament preparatory to a general election .

End of Article: COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)
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