country

/ˈkʌntɹi/

//ˈkʌntɹi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"country" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“country” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #313 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#313
frequency rank, English
7
letters
11
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

country vs county
86% similar
country vs counts
71% similar
country vs courtly
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for country
PropertyValue
Headwordcountry
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkʌntɹi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#313
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “country” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). country lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for country is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkʌntɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #313 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for country, with forms such as "ccountry", "conutry", and "counntry". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "county", "counts", "courtly", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English contre, contree, contreie, from Old French contree, cuntrede, from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrata (“(land) lying opposite; (land) spread before one”) (also in Medieval Latin as "country, region"), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) … The correct English form is country, spelled C-O-U-N-T-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.
  2. 2
    An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.
  3. 3
    An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.
  4. 4
    A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside.
  5. 5
    The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public.
  6. 6
    Traditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values.
  7. 7
    Ellipsis of country music.
  8. 8
    The spirit of the country (rural places): the spirit of country folkways; those folkways.
  9. 9
    The rock through which a vein of ore or coal runs.

Etymology

From Middle English contre, contree, contreie, from Old French contree, cuntrede, from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrata (“(land) lying opposite; (land) spread before one”) (also in Medieval Latin as "country, region"), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) (whence contra-). 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).

Synonyms

countrysovereign countrysovereign state

This word in other languages

país(Español)pays(Français)Land(Deutsch)país(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccountry,conutry,counntry,counrty,countrry,countryy,counttry,countyr,coutnry,cuontry,ocuntry

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of country - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ccountry1conutry2counntry1counrty2countrry1countryy1counttry1countyr2
Edit distance from "country"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "country"?
"country" is spelled C-O-U-N-T-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkʌntɹi/.
What does "country" mean?
As a noun, "country" means: The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.
What words are commonly confused with "country"?
"country" is commonly confused with "county", "counts", "courtly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "country"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "country" is /ˈkʌntɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "country"?
From Middle English contre, contree, contreie, from Old French contree, cuntrede, from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrata (“(land) lying opposite; (land) spread before one”) (also in Medieval Latin as "country, region"), from Latin contrā (“against, o... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “country”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-U-N-T-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈkʌntɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “county” - see the side-by-side comparison. country vs county
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list