rural

English

Etymology

From Old French rural, from Latin rūrālis (“rural”), from rūs (“countryside”) + -ālis.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʊəɹəl/, /ˈɹɔːɹəl/
• (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɵːɹəl/, /ˈɹoːɹəl/

  • Audio (UK); /ˈɹɵːɹəl/:

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʊɹəl/, /ˈɹɝəl/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈɾʉɾəl/, [ˈɾʉːɾəl]
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈɹuːɹəl/
• (South Asia) IPA^(key): /ˈɾuːɾal/, (nonstandard) /ˈɾuːa̯l/
• Hyphenation: ru‧ral
• Rhymes: -ʊəɹəl

Adjective

rural (comparative more rural, superlative most rural)

1. Relating to the countryside or to agriculture.

   Synonyms: campestral, landly (nonstandard), pastoral

   Antonyms: urban, suburban

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎^[1]:

     Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins … .

   • 2024 November 21, Helen Regan, Isaac Yee and Eve Brennan, “Australian teens among six tourists dead as countries warn of suspected methanol poisonings in Laos”, in CNN‎^[2], archived from the original on 23 March 2026:

     The Australian teens, both from Melbourne, were enjoying a backpacking trip when they became ill after a night out in Vang Vieng.
     The picturesque rural town in northern Laos has long been a popular backpacking spot.

Derived terms

• antirural
• Ashchurch Rural
• Audley Rural
• Belmont Rural
• Ellesmere Rural
• Kempston Rural
• Kington Rural
• Llanelli Rural
• Llangollen Rural
• nonrural
• Oswestry Rural
• perirural
• rural coach
• rural dean
• rural district
• ruralisation
• ruralish
• ruralism
• ruralist
• ruralistic
• ruralite
• rurality
• ruralization
• ruralize
• rurallike
• rurally
• ruralness
• ruralpolitan
• Rural Retreat
• rural sanitary district
• rural-type settlement
• rurban
• semi-rural
• semirural
• Shap Rural
• St Stephens by Launceston Rural
• Tring Rural
• unrural
• urban-rural commune
• urban-rural gmina
• Uttoxeter Rural
• Watford Rural
• Wem Rural
• Whitchurch Rural

Translations

pertaining to non-urban areas

• Albanian: fshatar (sq)
• Arabic: فَلَّاحِيّ (fallāḥiyy), قَرَوِيّ (qarawiyy)
• Armenian: գյուղական (hy) (gyuġakan)
• Azerbaijani: kənd (az)
• Belarusian: се́льскі (sjélʹski), вяско́вы (be) (vjaskóvy)
• Bengali: গ্রাম্য (bn) (grammo), গাঁইয়া (bn) (gãiẏa), গাঁওয়ালী (bn) (gãōẇali), গেরাইম্মা (bn) (geraimma)
• Bulgarian: се́лски (bg) (sélski)
• Catalan: rural (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 農村的 / 农村的 (zh) (nóngcūn de), 鄉村的 / 乡村的 (zh) (xiāngcūn de)

• Czech: venkovský (cs), selský (cs)
• Danish: tyndtbefolket, rural (da), landlig, rustik
• Dutch: landelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: kampara
• Extremaduran: roal
• Finnish: maalaismainen (fi), maalais-
• French: rural (fr)
• Galician: rural (gl)
• Georgian: სოფლის (soplis)
• German: ländlich (de), dörflich (de)
• Greek: αγροτικός (el) m (agrotikós)

  Ancient Greek: ἄγροικος (ágroikos)

• Hebrew: כַּפְרִי m (kafrí)
• Ido: rurala (io)
• Indonesian: pedesaan (id)
• Italian: rurale (it)
• Japanese: 農村 (ja) (のうそん, nōson), いなかの (ja) (いなかの, inaka no), ルーラル (rūraru)
• Kazakh: ауыл (kk) (awıl), ауылдық (awıldıq)
• Korean: 시골의 (ko) (sigorui), 마을의 (ko) (ma'eurui)
• Kyrgyz: айыл (ky) (ayıl), селолук (ky) (seloluk)
• Latin: rūrālis, agrestis (la)
• Lithuanian: kaimiškas
• Macedonian: селски (selski), рурален (ruralen)
• Malay: pedalaman (ms)
• Malayalam: ഗ്രാമീണ (ml) (grāmīṇa)
• Māori: taiwhenua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: landlig, rural

  Nynorsk: landleg, rural

• Old English: uplendisċ
• Persian: روستایی (fa) (rustâyi)
• Polish: wiejski (pl), wioskowy (pl), sielski
• Portuguese: rural (pt)
• Romanian: rural (ro), țărănesc (ro), câmpenesc (ro)
• Russian: се́льский (ru) (sélʹskij), дереве́нский (ru) (derevénskij)
• Scots: landward
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сѐоскӣ, ру̀ра̄лан

  Latin: sèoskī (sh), rùrālan (sh)

• Slovak: vidiecky
• Slovene: podeželski, ruralen
• Spanish: rural (es)
• Swedish: lantlig (se)
• Tagalog: pangkabukiran, kabukiranin, probinsiya
• Tajik: қишлоқӣ (qišloqi), деҳотӣ (dehoti)
• Tamil: நாட்டுப்புற (nāṭṭuppuṟa)
• Telugu: గ్రామీణ (te) (grāmīṇa)
• Thai: ชนบท (th) (chon-ná-bòt)
• Turkish: kırsal (tr)
• Turkmen: oba
• Ukrainian: сільськи́й (silʹsʹkýj)
• Uzbek: qishloq (uz)
• Vietnamese: nông thôn (vi)
• Welsh: gwledig (cy)
• Yiddish: דאָרפֿיש (dorfish)
• Zazaki: gemeng

Noun

rural (plural rurals)

1. (obsolete) A person from the countryside; a rustic.

See also

• country

Anagrams

• urlar

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rūrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ruˈɾal/ [ruˈɾal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ru‧ral

Adjective

rural (epicene, plural rurales)

1. rural

   Antonym: urbanu

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin rūrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ruˈɾal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ru‧ral

Adjective

rural m or f (masculine and feminine plural rurals)

1. rural

   Antonym: urbà

Further reading

• “rural”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “rural”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “rural” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “rural”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French rural, a borrowing from Latin rūrālis (“rural”), from rūs (“countryside”) + -ālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁy.ʁal/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ru‧ral

Adjective

rural (feminine rurale, masculine plural ruraux, feminine plural rurales)

1. rural

   Synonym: champêtre

   Antonym: urbain

Derived terms

• ruralité

Related terms

• rustique
• rustre

Further reading

• “rural”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin rūs, rūris

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin rūrālisder.

Galician rural

Derived from Latin rūrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ruˈɾal/ [ruˈɾɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ru‧ral

Adjective

rural m or f (plural rurais)

1. rural

   Antonym: urbano

Further reading

• “rural”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁuˈʁaːl/
• Rhymes: -aːl

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

rural (strong nominative masculine singular ruraler, comparative ruraler, superlative am ruralsten)

1. (dated, learned) rural

   Synonym: ländlich

Declension

Positive forms of rural number & gender singular plural masculine feminine neuter predicative er ist rural sie ist rural es ist rural sie sind rural strong declension (without article) nominative ruraler rurale rurales rurale genitive ruralen ruraler ruralen ruraler dative ruralem ruraler ruralem ruralen accusative ruralen rurale rurales rurale weak declension (with definite article) nominative der rurale die rurale das rurale die ruralen genitive des ruralen der ruralen des ruralen der ruralen dative dem ruralen der ruralen dem ruralen den ruralen accusative den ruralen die rurale das rurale die ruralen mixed declension (with indefinite article) nominative ein ruraler eine rurale ein rurales (keine) ruralen genitive eines ruralen einer ruralen eines ruralen (keiner) ruralen dative einem ruralen einer ruralen einem ruralen (keinen) ruralen accusative einen ruralen eine rurale ein rurales (keine) ruralen Comparative forms of rural number & gender singular plural masculine feminine neuter predicative er ist ruraler sie ist ruraler es ist ruraler sie sind ruraler strong declension (without article) nominative ruralerer ruralere ruraleres ruralere genitive ruraleren ruralerer ruraleren ruralerer dative ruralerem ruralerer ruralerem ruraleren accusative ruraleren ruralere ruraleres ruralere weak declension (with definite article) nominative der ruralere die ruralere das ruralere die ruraleren genitive des ruraleren der ruraleren des ruraleren der ruraleren dative dem ruraleren der ruraleren dem ruraleren den ruraleren accusative den ruraleren die ruralere das ruralere die ruraleren mixed declension (with indefinite article) nominative ein ruralerer eine ruralere ein ruraleres (keine) ruraleren genitive eines ruraleren einer ruraleren eines ruraleren (keiner) ruraleren dative einem ruraleren einer ruraleren einem ruraleren (keinen) ruraleren accusative einen ruraleren eine ruralere ein ruraleres (keine) ruraleren Superlative forms of rural number & gender singular plural masculine feminine neuter predicative er ist am ruralsten sie ist am ruralsten es ist am ruralsten sie sind am ruralsten strong declension (without article) nominative ruralster ruralste ruralstes ruralste genitive ruralsten ruralster ruralsten ruralster dative ruralstem ruralster ruralstem ruralsten accusative ruralsten ruralste ruralstes ruralste weak declension (with definite article) nominative der ruralste die ruralste das ruralste die ruralsten genitive des ruralsten der ruralsten des ruralsten der ruralsten dative dem ruralsten der ruralsten dem ruralsten den ruralsten accusative den ruralsten die ruralste das ruralste die ruralsten mixed declension (with indefinite article) nominative ein ruralster eine ruralste ein ruralstes (keine) ruralsten genitive eines ruralsten einer ruralsten eines ruralsten (keiner) ruralsten dative einem ruralsten einer ruralsten einem ruralsten (keinen) ruralsten accusative einen ruralsten eine ruralste ein ruralstes (keine) ruralsten

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin ruralis.

Adjective

rural (neuter singular ruralt, definite singular and plural rurale)

1. rural

Synonyms

• landlig

References

• “rural” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin ruralis.

Adjective

rural (neuter singular ruralt, definite singular and plural rurale)

1. rural

Synonyms

• landleg

References

• “rural” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin rūrālis (“rural”), from rūs (“countryside”) + -ālis.

Adjective

rural m (feminine rurale)

1. rural

Descendants

• → English: rural
• French: rural

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ryˈral/
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

rural

1. rural

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin rūrālis (“rural”), from rūs (“countryside”) + -ālis.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈɾaw/ [huˈɾaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈɾaw/ [huˈɾaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈɾaw/ [χuˈɾaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈɾal/ [ʁuˈɾaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈɾal/ [ʁuˈɾaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁuˈɾa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: ru‧ral

Adjective

rural m or f (plural rurais)

1. rural

Derived terms

• ruralmente

Further reading

• “rural”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “rural”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French rural.

Adjective

rural m or n (feminine singular rurală, masculine plural rurali, feminine/neuter plural rurale)

1. rural

Declension

Declension of rural

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	rural		rurală	rurali	rurale
	definite	ruralul		rurala	ruralii	ruralele
genitive- dative	indefinite	rural		rurale	rurali	rurale
	definite	ruralului		ruralei	ruralilor	ruralelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin rūrālis (“rural”), from rūs (“countryside”) + -ālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ruˈɾal/ [ruˈɾal]

• Audio (El Salvador):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ru‧ral

Adjective

rural m or f (masculine and feminine plural rurales)

1. rural

   Antonym: urbano

   • 2015 September 17, Teresa Sánchez Ravina, “Senegal se pone las pilas con la planificación familiar”, in El País‎^[3], archived from the original on 23 March 2018:

     Un ejemplo claro se ve en la tasa de prevalencia anticonceptiva, que en 2014 era del 20% en las zonas urbanas y del 7% en las zonas rurales.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

rural f (in Uruguay) m or f (in Argentina) (plural rurales)

1. (Rioplatense) station wagon (US, Australia); estate car (UK)

   Synonyms: familiar, (Colombia, Venezuela) camioneta, (Mexico) guayín, (Spain) ranchera, (Spain) rubia, (Chile, Peru, Puerto Rico) station wagon, (Bolivia, Mexico) vagoneta

Derived terms

• casa rural
• turismo rural

Further reading

• “rural”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025