Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Country \Coun"try\ (k?n"tr?), n.; pl. {Countries} (-tr?z). [F.
   contr['e]e, LL. contrata, fr. L. contra over against, on the
   opposite side. Cf. {Counter}, adv., {Contra}.]
   1. A tract of land; a region; the territory of an independent
      nation; (as distinguished from any other region, and with
      a personal pronoun) the region of one's birth, permanent
      residence, or citizenship.

            Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred. --Gen.
                                                  xxxxii. 9.

            I might have learned this by my last exile, that
            change of countries cannot change my state.
                                                  --Stirling.

            Many a famous realm And country, whereof here needs
            no account                            --Milton.

   2. Rural regions, as opposed to a city or town.

            As they walked, on their way into the country.
                                                  --Mark xvi. 12
                                                  (Rev. Ver. ).

            God made the covatry, and man made the town.
                                                  --Cowper.

            Only very great men were in the habit of dividing
            the year between town and country.    --Macaulay.

   3. The inhabitants or people of a state or a region; the
      populace; the public. Hence:
      (a) One's constituents.
      (b) The whole body of the electors of state; as, to
          dissolve Parliament and appeal to the country.

                All the country in a general voice Cried hate
                upon him.                         --Shak.

   4. (Law)
      (a) A jury, as representing the citizens of a country.
      (b) The inhabitants of the district from which a jury is
          drawn.

   5. (Mining.) The rock through which a vein runs.

   {Conclusion to the country}. See under {Conclusion}.

   {To put, or throw, one's self upon the country}, to appeal to
      one's constituents; to stand trial before a jury.