adj · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈɹʊəɹəl/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈɹɔːɹəl/
British, Southern, Standard:/ˈɹɵːɹəl/
British, Southern, Standard:/ˈɹoːɹəl/
UK:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈɹʊɹəl/
General-American:/ˈɹɝ.əl/
Scotland:/ˈɾʉɾəl/
Scotland:[ˈɾʉːɾəl]
Ireland:/ˈɹuːɹəl/
South-Asia:/ˈɾuːɾal/
South-Asia, nonstandard:/ˈɾuːa̯l/
rhymes with -ʊəɹəl
CMU ARPABET:R UH1 R AH0 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Relating to the countryside or to agriculture.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: campestral, landly
Antonyms: urban, suburban
2
noun
Meaning 2
A person from the countryside; a rustic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adjective
Meaning 3
living in or characteristic of farming or country life
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
rural people
large rural households
unpaved rural roads
an economy that is basically rural
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: urban
4
adjective
Meaning 4
of or relating to the countryside as opposed to the city
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
rural electrification
rural free delivery
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Old French rural, from Latin rūrālis (“rural”), from rūs (“countryside”) + -ālis.
Across languages
Translations
94 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
fshatar
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Arabic:
فَلَّاحِيّ
(fallāḥiyy)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Arabic:
قَرَوِيّ
(qarawiyy)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Armenian:
գյուղական
(gyuġakan)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Azerbaijani:
kənd
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Belarusian:
се́льскі
(sjélʹski)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Belarusian:
вяско́вы
(vjaskóvy)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Bengali:
গ্রাম্য
(grammo)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Bengali:
গাঁইয়া
(gãiẏa)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Bengali:
গাঁওয়ালী
(gãōẇali)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Bengali:
গেরাইম্মা
(geraimma)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Bulgarian:
се́лски
(sélski)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Catalan:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Chinese Mandarin:
農村的 /农村的
(nóngcūn de)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Chinese Mandarin:
鄉村的 /乡村的
(xiāngcūn de)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Czech:
venkovský
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Czech:
selský
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Danish:
tyndtbefolket
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Danish:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Danish:
landlig
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Danish:
rustik
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Dutch:
landelijk
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Esperanto:
kampara
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Extremaduran:
roal
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Finnish:
maalaismainen
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Finnish:
maalais-
— pertaining to non-urban areas
French:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Galician:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Georgian:
სოფლის
(soplis)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
German:
ländlich
— pertaining to non-urban areas
German:
dörflich
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Greek:
αγροτικός
(agrotikós)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Ancient Greek:
ἄγροικος
(ágroikos)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Hebrew:
כַּפְרִי
(kafrí)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Ido:
rurala
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Indonesian:
pedesaan
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Italian:
rurale
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Japanese:
農村
(nōson)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Japanese:
いなかの
(inaka no)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Japanese:
ルーラル
(rūraru)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Kazakh:
ауыл
(auyl)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Kazakh:
ауылдық
(auyldyq)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Korean:
시골의
(sigorui)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Korean:
마을의
(ma'eurui)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Kyrgyz:
айыл
(ayıl)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Kyrgyz:
селолук
(seloluk)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Latin:
rūrālis
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Latin:
agrestis
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Lithuanian:
kaimiškas
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Macedonian:
селски
(selski)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Macedonian:
рурален
(ruralen)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Malay:
pedalaman
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Malayalam:
ഗ്രാമീണ
(grāmīṇa)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Māori:
taiwhenua
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Norwegian Bokmål:
landlig
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Norwegian Bokmål:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Norwegian Nynorsk:
landleg
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Norwegian Nynorsk:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Old English:
uplendisċ
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Persian:
روستایی
(rustâyi)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Polish:
wiejski
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Polish:
wioskowy
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Polish:
sielski
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Portuguese:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Romanian:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Romanian:
țărănesc
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Romanian:
câmpenesc
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Russian:
се́льский
(sélʹskij)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Russian:
дереве́нский
(derevénskij)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Scots:
landward
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Serbo-Croatian:
сѐоскӣ
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Serbo-Croatian:
ру̀ра̄лан
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Serbo-Croatian:
sèoskī
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Serbo-Croatian:
rùrālan
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Slovak:
vidiecky
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Slovene:
podeželski
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Slovene:
ruralen
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Spanish:
rural
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Tagalog:
pangkabukiran
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Tagalog:
kabukiranin
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Tagalog:
probinsiya
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Tajik:
қишлоқӣ
(qišloqi)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Tajik:
деҳотӣ
(dehoti)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Tamil:
நாட்டுப்புற
(nāṭṭuppuṟa)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Telugu:
గ్రామీణ
(grāmīṇa)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Thai:
ชนบท
(chon-ná-bòt)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Turkish:
kırsal
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Turkmen:
oba
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Ukrainian:
сільськи́й
(silʹsʹkýj)
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Uzbek:
qishloq
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Vietnamese:
nông thôn
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Welsh:
gwledig
— pertaining to non-urban areas
Yiddish:
דאָרפֿיש
(dorfish)
— pertaining to non-urban areas