East-countryn.
/ˈiːs(t)ˌkʌntri/, U.S. /ˈis(t)ˌkəntri/ 1. Lands lying to the east; the eastern part of a country. Formerly also: an eastern country. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > East > [noun] > part or place
eastdealeOE
east halfeOE
eastlandOE
eastdalec1175
estrichea1200
East-countryc1325
east sidec1325
orientc1375
eastc1390
easta1475
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 5944 (MED) Kent hii destruede al so god & þe est contreye wide.
c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) l. 14123 In all þe Est cuntre was non so mekyll of myȝt.
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Gen. xxix. 1 Then Jacob lyfte vp his fete & went toward the east countre.
1590 L. Lloyd Consent of Time 655 Iustine saith, that no king of the East Countrie would take battell in hand without a French armie.
1607 T. Tuke tr. W. Perkins Arte of Prophecying 83 The East-country men doe diuerslie distinguish their artificiall day.
1692 O. Walker Greek & Rom. Hist. i. xix. 277 The East Country much ruined by the Plague and the Wars.
1723 W. Lowth Comm. Ezekiel xxv. 197 By the East Country is commonly meant Arabia in Scripture.
1780 T. W. Bray Diss. on Sixth Vial iv. 76 Flowing out from the temple in Zion towards the east country.
1821 W. Scott Pirate I. ix. 220 Very, very Fifish, as the east-country fisher-folks say.
1896 W. A. Craigie Primer of Burns iv. 61 The earlier Scottish poets..had been essentially East-Country men.
1917 W. J. Childs Across Asia Minor on Foot xxxiv. 404 Scarce a hundred miles in the east country was Haran and the land of old Abram.
1973 G. W. S. Barrow Kingdom of Scots viii. 242 Among these east-country figures the Official of Glasgow..seems an odd-man-out.
2001 M. A. Taylor Jumping Fire xviii. 347 In the next hour, the lightning continued to flash in the east country.
2. spec. The Baltic countries. In early use also in plural. Cf. eastland n., estriche n. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Russia, the Russian Empire, or the Soviet Union > [noun] > Baltic lands
East-country1555
Baltic1720
1555 in Rec. Merchant Adventurers Newcastle (1895) I. 37 And this money accordinglye to be gathered of all shipes that shall go to Flaunders, Fraunce, Spaine, Burdeux, and the East countrie.
1597 Acts Privy Council (1903) XXVII. 307 The merchantes that trade to Dantzick or to anie other partes in the East Contries.
1609 E. Grimeston tr. J. F. Le Petit Low-Country Common Wealth 229 Hamburg, Lubecke and other towns of the East country, along the Baltique sea.
1662 in J. D. Marwick Rec. Convent. Royal Burghs Scotl. (1878) III. 557 Wee ar abl to bring in all the wynes of France..as lykwys the comodities of the East Cuntries.
1709 London Gaz. No. 4604/4 Will be exposed to publick Sale..about 730 Quarters of East-Country Wheat.
1792 J. Phillips Gen. Hist. Inland Navigation xi. 252 Hemp, flax, Russia linen, potash, and whatever else is imported from the east country at the port of Hull.
1823 E. P. Brenton Naval Hist. Great Brit. I. ii. 50 The chief nurseries for our seamen are, the coal, the East-country or Baltic, North-American, and the coasting, trade.
1862 J. Y. J. London & its Environs xx. 249 The Commercial Docks, at Rotherhithe..are chiefly occupied by vessels from the Baltic, and for east country trade.
1938 J. H. Owen War at Sea under Queen Anne ii. 59 The trade with the East Country..and with Hamburg and Holland was conducted on a similar plan.
1969 J. J. Murray George I, Baltic & Whig Split 43 The ports of the East Country had long been famous commercially.
2003 M. Williams Deforesting Earth ii. vii. 197 Königsberg, Riga, and other exporting towns in the ‘East Country’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1325