A countryman is someone from the same country as you. When an American meets another American while traveling in Japan, they might greet each other as countrymen. When a Brazilian soccer player sees fans from Brazil at a World Cup match in Germany, those fans are her countrymen.

The word creates an instant connection based on shared nationality. Even if two countrymen have never met before and come from different cities or backgrounds, they share something meaningful: the same homeland, national holidays, and often similar customs or language.

In historical contexts, countryman sometimes means someone from the rural countryside rather than a city, though this usage is less common today. You might read in an old book about farmers and other countrymen working the land.

The feminine form is countrywoman, though many people now use countryman for anyone. The plural is countrymen.