← All words
noun, masculine

pays

/pɛ.i/

noun, masculine/pɛ.i/

land; region; home ground; homeland; home country; country; nation; country

Near-synonym: patrie

Synonyms: patrie

Inherited from Middle French pays, from Old French pais, from Late Latin pāgēnsis (“inhabitant of a district”), derived from Latin pāgus (“countryside; district”). See related terms. Cognates include Italian paese. Borrowed into Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish as país. Cognates in regional languages in France: Norman payis, Gallo peïs, Picard poaiyis, Bourguignon paiyis, Franco-Provençal payis, Occitan país, Corsican paese.