north countryn.adj.
/ˈnɔːθ ˌkʌntri/, U.S. /ˈnɔrθ ˌkəntri/ A. n.
1. The northern part of any country or place; spec. the region of England (or Britain) north of the River Humber.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > England > [noun] > north of England
north endOE
northc1275
north countryc1325
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7978 Malcolom..destrude þe norþ contreie vaste.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 163 Ȝif þey gooþ to þe norþ contray þey gooþ wiþ greet..strengþe.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 32 (MED) Men say he was fonden in þe North cuntre At Hexham now late.
1458 in T. Gardner Hist. Acct. Dunwich (1754) 149 To Will. Roper when he went to the norre Contre for the Kyngs Viage.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Zech. vi. 8 These that go towarde the north, shal still my wrath in the north countre.
?1577 F. T. Debate Pride & Lowlines sig. Cvii I did aske them, who and whence they were, They answeared me of the North country, In Comberland.
1611 Bible (King James) Zech. vi. 6 The blacke horses..goe forth into the North countrey . View more context for this quotation
1678 H. More Let. 25 May 5 in J. Glanvill Saducismus Triumphatus (1681) It was, and sometimes yet is, as much discoursed of in the North-Countrey, as any thing.
1735 C. Coffey Merry Cobler vi. 13 'Twas down in the North Country.
1771 J. Beattie Minstrel: Bk. 1st xiii. 7 But he, I ween, was of the north countrie.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes i. 30 In a greater proportion along the east coast; and greatest of all, as I find, in the North Country.
1869 R. D. Blackmore Lorna Doone I. v. 50 In or about the year of our Lord 1640..great estates in the north country were suddenly confiscated.
1903 S. Butler Way of all Flesh lviii. 267 Mr Shaw was from the North Country, and an avowed freethinker.
1994 Minnesota Monthly July 123/2 We're..concerned with..the challenge of maintaining the environmental balances that will keep our north country a lovely place.
2. The regional speech of the north of England; the accent characteristic of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > British English > English English
north country1698
west country1711
Yorkshire1717
Kenticism1735
English English1783
cockney1812
Cockneyese1823
East Angliana1825
Somersetian1825
Northumbrian1845
Norfolk1863
Kentish1866
Doric1870
Kensingtonian1911
Mummerset1915
Geordie1928
Hoxtoniana1935
scouse1963
mockney1967
Kensington1968
Liverpudlian1985
Jafaican2006
MLE2006
Multicultural London English2006
1698 London Gaz. No. 3357/4 He..speaks broad North Country.
1706 London Gaz. No. 4214/4 Speaks North Country.
1853 Notes & Queries 10 Sept. 240/1 The ignominious Tom Tiler (North Country for hen-pecked husband).
1966 Listener 7 Apr. 501/1 I can play cockney, I can play north country.
1974 Times 30 Dec. 4/7 Gracie Fields..reverts to the characteristic mixture of North Country, standard English and American overtones.
1999 Evening Standard (Nexis) 8 Mar. 15 His wife..has a vaguely Welsh accent but their son Tommy speaks North Country.
B. adj. (attributive).
1. Of a person: originating from or living in the north of England.Frequently in north country man, north country woman.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > British nation > English nation > [noun] > native or inhabitant of England > north of England
north country woman1722
north country man1805
1651 Let. John Lilburns 3 A North Countrey Parliament man.., who made use of a charge of delinquency, then preferred against my Unckle, to be revenged of me his Nephew.
a1662 T. Craufurd Hist. Univ. Edinb. (1808) 66 Mr. William King, son to an north countrey gentleman.
1684 Symson in E. B. Ramsay Remin. (1874) 212 Contrary to some north countrey people, they oftentimes pronounce ‘w’ for ‘v’.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 155 There was in the House, where I Lodg'd, a North Country Woman that went for a Gentlewoman.
1798 J. Boaden Cambro-Britons ii. 46 They come from some north-country minstrels.
1805 F. Reynolds Delinquent i. iii. 16 Mother only made me a sort of a simple sailor..but then..she also made me a north countryman.
1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. 77 The stout north countrywoman tucked up her petticoats, and began to climb up the steep path with a will.
1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn ix. 123 The landlady, the tired thin parchment-faced North Countrywoman, whose god was Respectability of Lodgings, listened in a frightened way.
1969 R. Heppenstall Portrait of Artist as Professional Man 101 To a north countryman of demotic antecedents like myself, Louis's background, manner and social attitudes were characteristically southern English upper-middle class.
2001 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 21 Oct. (Features section) 11 Stan [Laurel] was a dry, practical north countryman, intent on working out routines and living quietly.
2. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the north country or its dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > direction > cardinal points > North > [adjective] > part or place
northOE
northland1488
N1513
north country1673
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > England > [adjective] > districts of England
Midlanda1475
western1545
west country1616
north country1673
North-of-England1816
south-eastern1857
down along1883
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > British nation > English nation > [adjective] > north
north country1673
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [adjective] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > of varieties of English
north country1673
Mancunian1771
cockney1776
southernizing1861
Hiberno-English1864
Elizabethan1869
southernized1873
Welsh English1877
Norfolk1889
Tyneside1896
broguish1899
Anglo-Welsh1905
Oxford1928
Novocastrian1969
Konglish1975
Singlish1986
mockney1989
1673 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 1 (heading) North-countrey Words.
1702 London Gaz. No. 3898/4 Strong Voice, a North Country Pronunciation.
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier ii. 250 Hark thee, Friend, says he, in a broad North Country Tone, whar hast thou thilk Horse?
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison V. ix. 48 Aunt Nell, who has naturally a good blowzing north-country complexion.
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 341/2 Eleven hundred and sixty-five pounds of ‘north country coals’.
1871 J. Ruskin Munera Pulveris (1880) Pref. 19 A quiet north country town.
1933 M. Allingham Sweet Danger x. 129 A comfortable, homely voice with an unexpected North Country accent.
1989 Boundary Waters Jrnl. Winter 5/2 We have a long season of dependable snow..and north country hospitality at our lodges.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > England > [noun] > north of England > quality of
north-countriness1888
1888 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 Mar. 3/2 There is a chill north-countriness over everything.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.c1325