countryman

[ kuhn-tree-muhn ]

noun

, plural coun·try·men.

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.

Derived Forms

• ˈcountryˌwoman, noun:feminine

Word History and Origins

Origin of countryman¹

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

Example Sentences

The document with the official result arrived the next day and little by little I saw how my countrymen who had obtained asylum were released, even one whose hearing was the same day as mine without a lawyer and without evidence.

From Washington Blade

On the day of his departure, a fellow countryman said goodbye with tears in his eyes and we were all very happy for little Piké, because he had won a nine-month battle.

From Washington Blade

I subject my countrymen to a second interrogation when they return, trying to calm my terror.

From Washington Blade

The ques­tion was how to attain it without compromising their countrymen.

From The Daily Beast

Few players have held themselves together under such scrutiny and for such symbolic stakes in the eyes of their countrymen.

From Washington Post

She later went on to appear (from 2000 to 2003) in the series Clarissa and the Countryman, with Johnny Scott.

From The Daily Beast

In Charlie Countryman, Evan Rachel Wood is Gabi, the girl you meet for two seconds and instantly fall for.

From The Daily Beast

“The human species is a deeply flawed biological product”—so wrote my countryman Arthur Koestler.

From The Daily Beast

But, of course, this "other" is most often anything but; it is actually friend, neighbor and countryman.

From The Daily Beast

Urs Fischer, the young contemporary artist and fellow countryman, stands apart.

From The Daily Beast

Every year since then the Chinese have gathered in the city and remembered the day when their countryman's life was saved.

From Project Gutenberg

Went to work in my own way; was a countryman just come into a snug bit of inheritance, looking out for a corner of land.

From Project Gutenberg

You are only an honest countryman wandering amid a crowd of courtiers—virtue in danger amid a myriad of vices.

From Project Gutenberg

Her face, notwithstanding its emaciation, reminded him of Latta, the wife of his friend and fellow-countryman Schmidt.

From Project Gutenberg

In advance, with an officer, was a man attired in the dress of a countryman, who pointed in the direction of the cottage.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• compatriot