cross-country

See also: cross country

English

Alternative forms

• cross country, crosscountry

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.?

Proto-Italic *kruks / *krukis

Latin cruxbor.

Old Irish crosbor.

Old Norse krossbor.

Old English cros

Middle English cross

Middle English cros-

English cross-

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm

Proto-Italic *kom

Proto-Italic *kom-

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Italic *-teros

Proto-Italic *komterosder.

Proto-Italic *komterād

Latin contrā

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos

Proto-Italic *-ātos

Latin -ātus

Latin -āta

Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrāta

Old French contreebor.

Middle English contre

English country

English cross-country

From cross- + country.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

cross-country (not comparable)

1. From one side of a country to the other.
   • 1940 May, “Items of Interest: From Chippenham to Hay”, in Railway Magazine, page 319:

     There are certain parts of Great Britain in which, even in peace time, the speed of cross-country travel has made no advance for more than half-a-century.

   • 1963 February, G. M. Kichenside, “The Newport (Mon.) resignalling scheme”, in Modern Railways, page 125:

     Passenger traffic consists largely of through expresses from London, Bristol and Birmingham to South Wales via Severn Tunnel Junction, and cross-country trains from the north and Midlands via Pontypool Road. (In Britain cross-country trains connect regional centres, and avoid London.)

   • 2005, Donald Hall, The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, pages 102–103:

     I made reservations for three with USAir, Manchester, New Hampshire, to Seattle, Washington. […] I negotiated with Polly's doctors to transfer her treatment cross-country.

2. Across countryside.
3. Relating to cross country racing.
   • 2025 November 15, Matthew Weaver, “‘Are they going to eat me alive?’: trail runners become prey in newest form of hunting”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     It involves bloodhounds and horse riders pursuing not foxes but cross-country runners.

4. (of data or research) Across countries; international.

Synonyms

• (across countries): cross-countries

Translations

relating to cross country racing

• Polish: biegowy (pl)

Noun

cross-country (countable and uncountable, plural cross-countries or cross-countrys)

1. Alternative form of cross country.

Derived terms

• canicross
• downcountry
• moto-cross

See also

• cross-country skiing

References

• “cross-country”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “cross-country”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
• “cross-country”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

French

Etymology

From English cross country.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʁɔs.kœn.tʁi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

cross-country m (uncountable)

1. (sports) cross country running (sport)

Further reading

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