rural

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʊə.ɹəl/, /ˈɹɔː.ɹəl/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʊɹ.əl/, /ˈɹɝ.əl/
• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈɹʉːɹəl/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈɹuːɹ.əl/
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈɾuːɾ.al/, (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)

   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]:

     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
• rurban
• semirural
• semi-rural
• 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) (auyl), ауылдық (auyldyq)
• 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)
• 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

Borrowed from Latin rūrālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [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.
• “rural” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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

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 (oblique and nominative feminine singular 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