countryfolkn.
/ˈkʌntrɪfəʊk/, U.S. /ˈkəntriˌfoʊk/ In singular and plural.
1. Chiefly with possessive adjective or genitive. The people of one's own country; = country people n. 2. Formerly also: the people of a particular country, or of one's own district (cf. note at country n. 1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > compatriots > [noun]
ledesOE
countryfolkc1325
natives1589
country people1794
national1937
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 5465 (MED) Atte laste þe contreye folc com mid gret route & driue hom al to noȝte.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 2161 And gat hym there..of his cuntre folk [c1500 Trin. Cambr. contrefolk] a ful gret won..& homward saylyth he.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 142 Jn a village quhare the contree folk..has enpoysound all thair wynis & thaire brede.
1547 W. Baldwin Treat. Morall Phylos. i. xviii. sig. f.iiv Surely straungers wolde haue lesse mercye on me than myne owne countreye folkes.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke Pref. 3 Your..charitie and zele towardes your countrey folkes.
1626 J. Pory in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) III. 239 Thrust them and all their countryfolkes out of the Queens lodgings.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 103 Tho' the Savages were their own Country Folk, yet they were most terribly afraid of them.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian x, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 264 Which at once acknowledged the connection betwixt them as country-folks.
1899 H. S. Bowden Relig. of Shakespeare v. 243 Southampton's town house..was as we have seen the meeting place of the Essex conspirators, amongst whom were so many of the poet's country-folk and friends.
1928 Rotarian Dec. 33/2 They can return to their respective countries and correct the wrong impression which most of their country-folk have obtained from glaring newspaper headlines.
1996 Econ. & Polit. Weekly 13 Apr. 911/1 The prime minister has put his countryfolk in a major predicament.
2. = country people n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > rustic or peasant > collectively
land-peoplec1440
peasantry1551
country people?1556
countryfolk1557
rusticity1621
ruraltya1641
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > country dweller > [noun] > collectively
land-peoplec1440
country people?1556
countryfolk1557
ruraltya1641
rusticity1833
1557 W. Barker in tr. St. Basil of Caesarea Exhort. to Younge Kynsemen Pref. sig. A.iii Shepheardes were the fyrste that perceyued hym, and after other countrey folke.
1605 True Chron. Hist. King Leir sig. Hv (Stage direct.) Enter the Gallian King and Queens, and Mumford, with a basket, disguised like Countrey folke.
1680 R. L'Estrange Citt & Bumpkin 8 What Simpletons we Country-folks are to you Citizens!
1722 Representative's Answer to Countryman's Let. 18 You Countryfolks, you say, are not quite so ignorant as we imagine.
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 153 Some merry, friendly, countra folks, Together did convene.
1795 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 633/2 Let me ask, whether it is not reasonable that we country-folk, who live so much nearer the sea, should have fish as well and as cheap as you London gentry?
1836 C. Hooton Adventures Bilberry Thurland III. 252 He looked prodigiously cruel, having, as our country folks term it, got out of bed the wrong end first.
1862 London Rev. & Weekly Jrnl. 30 Aug. 179 The townsfolk and countryfolk of Derbyshire.
1934 Discovery Aug. 215/1 What these country folk do not know about the preparation of pasta..is not worth knowing.
1963 Dublin Hist. Rec. 18 42 It should be noted that sometimes such ancient beliefs were still remembered by the countryfolk of the nineteenth century.
2004 Countryman Jan. 41/2 One hardened townie reported with amazement that country folk actually smile and say hello.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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