countryman

[kuhn-tree-muhn]

noun

plural

countrymen 

1. a native or inhabitant of one's own country.

   Synonyms: landsman, compatriot
   Antonyms: foreigner

2. a native or inhabitant of a particular region.

3. a person who lives in the country.

   Synonyms: peasant, farmer, rustic

4. an unsophisticated person, as one who lives in or comes from a rural area; rustic.

countryman

/ ˈkʌntrɪmən /

noun

1. a person who lives in the country

2. a person from a particular country or from one's own country (esp in the phrase fellow countryman )

Gender Note

Is countryman gender-neutral? See -man.

Other Word Forms

• countrywoman noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of countryman¹

First recorded in 1275–1325, countryman is from Middle English contre man. See country, man

Example Sentences

And as their lower-income countrymen curb their spending, the affluent are going to be “called upon to drive more of the sales and more of the visits this holiday season,” said R.J.

Read more on Barron's

And as their lower-income countrymen curb their spending, the affluent are going to be “called upon to drive more of the sales and more of the visits this holiday season,” said R.J.

Read more on Barron's

Matsuzawa isn’t quite as famous as his countryman, but landing in the NFL would put him in an even bigger spotlight.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“When Shakespeare wrote a speech in the Roman style in his tragic play about Julius Caesar, he began it thus: ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.’

Read more on Literature

Having been absent for 20 years, he fears—and rightly—that he will be unrecognizable to family, retainers, and countrymen.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• compatriot