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countryman

American  
[kuhn-tree-muhn] / ˈkʌn tri mən /

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 British  
/ 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 )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Gender

Is countryman gender-neutral? See -man.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of countryman

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Philharmonic in a fresh study of his great countryman composer.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026

Japan's undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue will fight countryman Junto Nakatani in a mega-fight at the Tokyo Dome on May 2, US media reported Tuesday.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

The Northern Irishman stepped in to replace countryman Brendan Rodgers, who resigned in late October.

From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025

Mendonça Filho has seen nearly everything his accomplished countryman has made, but knew there was something still to be tapped.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025

The various declination of the needle under different meridians was first discovered by Sebastian Cabbott, and its inclination to the nearer pole by our countryman Robert Norman.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.