核心畫面

You can picture 'country' as a single stretch of land seen as one whole — a place with its own boundary, marked off from what lies around it. From that one idea two pictures grow: the land seen as a political whole (a nation with its people and government) and the land seen as physical ground (fields and open space outside the towns).

可以把 country 想成「一整片被劃出來、看成一個整體的土地」——有自己的範圍,和周圍分開。從這個核心會長出兩種更多收起可以把 country 想成「一整片被劃出來、看成一個整體的土地」——有自己的範圍,和周圍分開。從這個核心會長出兩種畫面:一是把這片地看成政治上的整體(一個有人民、有政府的國家),二是把它看成實際的地面(城鎮之外的田野與開闊地)。這兩種畫面其實是同一塊地的兩種看法。

From the word’s history

From Old French 'contrée' / Medieval Latin '(terra) contrata', literally 'the land lying opposite / spread out before you' — the land you see stretching out in front. That single 'spread-out land' sense later split toward both 'nation' and 'open countryside'.

源自古法語 contrée、中世紀拉丁語 (terra) contrata,字面是「在你面前展開、對面的那片土地」——你眼前一路延伸出去的地。後來這個「攤開在眼前的土地」一邊走向「國家」,一邊走向「鄉間」。

etymonline.com/word/country

Three branches

國家(政治上的整體)

把那片被劃出範圍的土地看成一個政治單位:有邊界、有人民、有政府,於是成了「國家」。這是 country 今天最常用的一面。

a nation · noun · A1

An area of land with its own people and government, like Taiwan, Japan, or France.

國家

鄉間/某種地帶(實際的地面)

回到「土地」最素樸的一面:不看政治,只看實際的地面。城鎮之外那片開闊的地,或某一種地形、某一片地帶,都是這一面。

the countryside · noun · A1

Land away from towns and cities, with fields, farms, and open space.

鄉下 / 鄉間

鄉村音樂

從「鄉間」這片地再轉一步:一種發源自美國南方鄉間、唱日常生活的流行音樂,就用那片地的名字來命名。

country music · noun · A1

A style of popular music from the southern United States, with guitars and singing about everyday life.

鄉村音樂

原始詞典資料12 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

countrynoun/ˈkʌntɹi/

  • 1

    The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.

    • By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.
    • But that expropriation of the Third World, [that] has been going on for 400 years, brings us to another revelation: namely, that the Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich: the Philippines are rich, Brazil is rich, Mexico is rich, Chile is rich; only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken; there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries. These countries are not underdeveloped; they're overexploited!
  • 2

    An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.

    • We walk along flat, open country, red dirt and spinifex grass, a few short trees[…].
  • 3

    An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.

    • Thomas Hardy country
    • Hikers love the wild country that lies northwest of this river confluence.
  • 4

    A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside.

    • I was borne and brought up in the Countrie, and amidst husbandry[…].
    • Joyce Barnaby: You don't kill someone because they made you redundant. DCI Tom Barnaby: Not in the town, dear, but this is the country. And, in the country, anything goes.
  • 5

    The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public.

    • a scandal that rocked the country
    • For all the country, in a general voice, Cried hate upon him.
  • 6

    Traditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values.

    • "Me like my country — no much too hot, no much too cold. By and bye, white fellow come — soldier-man come. White fellow say, this our land, that our land — ALL country our land. Black fellow say no! my country no white fellow's country, and black fellow take spear.
    • "Yewi," he said, "me bin longa Fanny Bay gaol five years." On my asking why they put him in gaol he replied. "Australia your country, ain't it?" I replied, "Yes, him my country all right." "Well," he then said, "this my country here. Brinken country other side of the river ain't it?" "That's right," said I. "Well," said Jack, "supposem Japanese come longa this country and you killem, you good man, but suppose Brinken come longa my country here, and I kill him, police man put me longa Fanny Bay for five years. That is the law."
  • 7

    informalThe spirit of the country (rural places): the spirit of country folkways; those folkways.

    • You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.
  • 8

    businessminingThe rock through which a vein of ore or coal runs.

countryadj/ˈkʌntɹi/

  • 1

    From or in the countryside, connected with it, or typical of it.

    • Things around here are just a little more country than what he's used to.
    • When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit, Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper.
  • 2

    Of or connected to country music.

    • They're mainly a hard rock band, but their new album sounds kinda country to me.
  • 3

    Originating in India rather than being imported from abroad.

    • We have seen that the Company manufactured silk stuffs at three of its Residencies, but from country-wound silk.
    • A reference to the Annual Administration Reports of the Department of Horse-breeding Operations […] will allow of the opinion being arrived at, that the breed of country horses under the present regime is steadily improving.

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形:

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。