Synonyms

old country

American

noun

the original home country of an immigrant or a person's ancestors, especially a European country.

old country British

noun

the country of origin of an immigrant or an immigrant's ancestors

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

old-country adjective

Etymology

Origin of old country

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They owned one of those big old country stores that had everything in it.

From Literature

That's not to say there isn't still a huge amount of goodwill towards everyone from the "old country".

From BBC

I have an array of friends who learned later in life that their uncles were really their fathers, that Grandma had a whole other family back in the old country.

From Salon

The players were immigrants or the sons of immigrants, playing a game that was considered a national pastime in the old country but little more than a waste of time in the new one.

From Los Angeles Times

The bulk of Maniscalco’s most recognizable bits revolve around stories about his hairdresser father, Salvo, whose no-nonsense immigrant wisdom is exported from the old country.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023