Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Rural in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels rural as adjective. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913adjective
Rural

[F., fr. L. ruralis, fr. rus, ruris, the country. Cf. Room space, Rustic.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordrural
Part of speechadjective
Historical etymology[F., fr. L. ruralis, fr. rus, ruris, the country. Cf. Room space, Rustic.]
Selected historical definitionOf or pertaining to the country, as distinguished from a city or town; living in the country; suitable for, or resembling, the country; rustic; as, rural scenes; a rural prospect.
Signed record IDwebster1913-rural-adjective-f5423608a52b
Source locatorCIDE.R, paragraph 11152; Gutenberg eBook 667
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 667Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "rural" is labeled adjective. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F., fr. L. ruralis, fr. rus, ruris, the country. Cf. Room space, Rustic.]" The selected historical definition says: "Of or pertaining to the country, as distinguished from a city or town; living in the country; suitable for, or resembling, the country; rustic; as, rural scenes; a rural prospect."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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