upcountryn.adj.adv.
/ˌʌpˈkʌntri/, U.S. /ˈəpˌkəntri/As adverb and adjective the word is current in English dialects (cf. quot. 1688 at sense A. 1), but the general 19th-cent. use originated partly in India and partly in the United States; from c1875 it has also been employed in, or with reference to, Australia, South Africa, etc.
A. n.† 1. An uplying or inland district. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [noun] > interior or civilized part > an inland district
upcountry1688
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 352/2 A Pit Saw in a Frame..is not in use with us, but in the Up Countreys.
2. The inland part of a country.
a. Without article.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [noun] > interior or civilized part
in-country1565
inland1573
inner-land1613
outside1827
upcountry1837
1837 J. C. Maitland Lett. from Madras (1843) 110 I continue to like ‘up country,’ as they call it, far better than the Presidency.
1888 E. H. D'Avigdor Antipodean Notes v. 30 Thousands from up-country make their annual business visit to the capital.
1897 ‘P. Warung’ Tales Old Regime 162 To say good-bye before leaving for up-country.
b. With the.
ΚΠ
1817 M. L. Weems Let. in M. L. Weems: Wks & Ways (1929) III. 176 I have a number due in the up country.
1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West I. xxiii. 248 In the cabin are the merchants and planters of the ‘up country’.
1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 163 The nearest districts became early known..as the Up Country.
1894 Cent. Mag. Apr. 849 Later generations in the up-country have applied the word to the products of corn after cooking.
B. adj.
Situated in, belonging or relating to, etc., the inland part of a country, or a part of the country away from any town.Now rare in British usage.In this sense and as adv. sometimes implying ‘higher in altitude’.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [adjective] > interior part
inland1557
inlanded1612
inward1635
upcountry1810
inlandish1849
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [adjective] > remote or outlying
out of the wayc1175
uplandishc1380
foreign1424
outland1500
outlying1651
outsetting1658
back country1775
out-of-the-world1775
outlandish1792
outworld1808
upcountry1810
backwoodish1836
fresh water1860
backwoodsy1862
way back1884
outstate1911
upstate1935
1810 M. L. Weems Let. in Ford's M. L. Weems: Wks & Ways (1929) III. 27 Not thinking the little up-country post offices safe in matters of money [etc.].
1831 Canton Misc. No. 5. 321 Up-country stations in India.
1835 T. B. Macaulay in G. O. Trevelyan Life & Lett. Macaulay (1876) I. 406 Any [library] which would be readily accessible at an up-country station [in India].
1859 F. Fuller Five Years' Resid. N.Z. xi. 233 The up~country tracks were not then marked out.
a1861 A. H. Clough Poems & Prose Remains (1869) II. 366 What racy tales of Yankeeland he had! Up-country girl, up-country farmer lad.
1874 W. H. L. Ranken Dominion Austral. xiii. 237 The ‘up-country store-keeper’..sells everything wholesale or retail.
1884 Internat. Health Exhib. Official Catal. p. xliii Models..of European up-country bungalows, and..of a bazaar in an up-country town.
1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling xx. 193 The fact that each of seven station hands could agree to put in £70 may throw some light upon the conditions amongst upcountry workers in Australia.
1911 W. H. Koebel In Maoriland Bush xxii. 284 Homely little upcountry race meetings.
1923 O. Schreiner Thoughts on S. Afr. 16 A minister of the Dutch Reformed Church..came to spend a night at our station. The accommodation of an up-country mission house is limited.
1929 K. S. Prichard Coonardoo xvi. 162 Poor degraded wretches,..drifting about the up-country towns and settlements along the coast.
1962 J. Frame Edge of Alphabet xviii. 102 How I would have liked to..live in an upcountry house whose tall windows faced the mountains.
1965 B. Wannan Fair Go, Spinner iv. 131 The Drongo once got a job on an up-country farm.
1970 Kenya Farmer Feb. 9/1 One of the greatest pleasures that Kenya can offer—a weekend on an ‘up country’ farm.
1977 Church Times 29 July 6/3 A BCMS missionary nurse in upcountry Uganda.
1981 Times 2 Feb. 16/7 He was the first Kandyan (upcountry) Sinhalese Buddhist to be appointed Governor-General, his predecessor having been a low country Sinhalese Christian.
C. adv.
In or to the inland part of a country. Also: away from any town, remote.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [adverb] > interior part
within land1614
inlanda1616
upcountry1863
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [adverb] > remote or outlying
way back1853
upcountry1863
upstate1901
1863 G. O. Trevelyan Lett. from Competition Wallah ii, in Macmillan's Mag. July 201/1 A young couple going to an appointment up-country.
1866 M. A. Barker Station Life N.Z. (1870) vi. 37 I had danced with a young gentleman whose station was a long way ‘up country’.
1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob iii Whilst we were up-country,..we met Colonel Coles.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed ii. 25 I'm going up-country with a column.
1891 G. Chamier Philosopher Dick i. ii. 43 Here, up country, we have mostly a moving population of tramps, topers and outcasts.
1911 E. M. Clowes On Wallaby iv. 86 Up-country the sundowner, or bona fide worker in search for a job, will find ‘tucker’ for the asking at any farm or station.
1911 W. H. Koebel In Maoriland Bush xiii. 183 Nature is a staunch friend to this obsolete atmosphere. Nowhere, perhaps, does it come to its aid with greater fervour than in New Zealand, up~country.
1962 J. Frame Edge of Alphabet i. 14 As if his head were a secret gully somewhere up-country.
1962 Housewife (Ceylon) Apr. 10 Children's woollen clothes very moderately priced and ideal for wear, both up~country and abroad.
1971 Inside Kenya Today Mar. 48/1 Farmers..can grow a variety of crops—just as much as their counterparts up-country could.
1980 Word 1979 30 167 Transportation problems, levels of literacy, as well as economic factors, tend to restrict the diffusion of the newspapers up-country.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.adv.1688