rural definition | Dictionary.com

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rural - 4 dictionary results

ru⋅ral

[roo

r-uh

Use rural in a Sentence

–adjective

1.	of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the country, country life, or country people; rustic: rural tranquillity.

2.	living in the country: the rural population.

3.	of or pertaining to agriculture: rural economy.

–noun

4.	a person who lives in a rural area.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < MF < L rūrālis, equiv. to rūr- (s. of rūs) the country, rural land (akin to room ) + -ālis -al ¹

Related forms:

ru⋅ral⋅ism, noun

ru⋅ral⋅ist, ru⋅ral⋅ite, noun

ru⋅ral⋅ly, adverb

ru⋅ral⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. unsophisticated, rough. Rural and rustic are terms that refer to the country. Rural is the official term: rural education. It may be used subjectively, and usually in a favorable sense: the charm of rural life. Rustic, however, may have either favorable or unfavorable connotations. In a derogatory sense, it means provincial, boorish, or crude; in a favorable sense, it may suggest ruggedness or a homelike rural charm: rustic simplicity.

Antonyms:
1. urban.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To rural

ru·ral (rŏŏr'əl)

adj.

Of, relating to, or characteristic of the country.
Of or relating to people who live in the country: rural households.
Of or relating to farming; agricultural.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin rūrālis, from rūs, rūr-, country; see reuə- in Indo-European roots.]
ru'ral·ly adv.

Synonyms: These adjectives all mean of or typical of the country as distinguished from the city. Rural applies to sparsely settled or agricultural country: "I do love quiet, rural England" (George Meredith).
Bucolic is often used pejoratively or facetiously of country people or their manners: "The keenest of bucolic minds felt a whispering awe at the sight of the gentry" (George Eliot).
Rustic frequently suggests a lack of sophistication or elegance, but it may also connote artless and pleasing simplicity: "some rustic phrases which I had learned at the farmer's house" (Jonathan Swift). The hiker slept in a charming, rustic cottage.
Pastoral, which evokes the image of shepherds, sheep, and verdant countryside, suggests serenity: The train passed through pastoral landscapes.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rural

Ru"ral\, a. [F., fr. L. ruralis, fr. rus, ruris, the country. Cf. Room space, Rustic.]

1. Of or pertaining to the country, as distinguished from a city or town; living in the country; suitable for, or resembling, the country; rustic; as, rural scenes; a rural prospect.

Here is a rural fellow; . . . He brings you figs. --Shak.

2. Of or pertaining to agriculture; as, rural economy.

Rural dean. (Eccl.) See under Dean.

Rural deanery (Eccl.), the state, office, or residence, of a rural dean.

Syn: Rustic.

Usage: Rural, Rustic. Rural refers to the country itself; as, rural scenes, prospects, delights, etc. Rustic refers to the character, condition, taste, etc., of the original inhabitants of the country, who were generally uncultivated and rude; as, rustic manners; a rustic dress; a rustic bridge; rustic architecture, etc.

We turn To where the silver Thames first rural grows. --Thomson.

Lay bashfulness, that rustic virtue, by; To manly confidence thy throughts apply. --Dryden.

Language Translation for : rural

Spanish: rural,

German: ländlich,

Japanese: 田舎の

More Translations »

rural

1412, from O.Fr. rural (14c.), from L. ruralis "of the countryside," from rus (gen. ruris) "open land, country," from PIE *rur- "open space" (cf. O.C.S. ravinu "level," O.Ir. roi, roe "plain field," O.E. rum "space;" see room).

"In early examples, there is usually little or no difference between the meanings of rural and rustic, but in later use the tendency is to employ rural when the idea of locality (country scenes, etc.) is prominent, and rustic when there is a suggestion of the more primitive qualities or manners naturally attaching to country life." [OED]

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