old country
Where grandparents came
The old country is where someone's ancestors came from, typically used by immigrants or their descendants to refer to their homeland or nation of origin.
The phrase carries nostalgic connotations and implies emotional distance—both geographic and generational—from that place.
My grandmother still makes recipes from the old country.
It appears most often in American English, where successive waves of immigration have made such references common.
One's native country
- native landCountry of origin
- birthplaceLocation of one's birth
- ancestral homeFamily's original dwelling place
- patriaNative country, Latin
back home · village · province · region · soil · territory · settlement · homestead
Scattered population sharing origins
- emigrantPerson resettling in another nation
- expatriateOne living abroad permanently
- immigrantOne who resettles abroad
- migrationMovement to new territory
departure · relocation · exodus · leaving · crossing · voyage · passage · ship
Those from whom one descends
- forebearsAncestral family members
- grandparentsAncestors once removed
- great-grandparentsGrandparents' own parents
- lineageDescent from progenitors
genealogy · family tree · bloodline · heritage · roots · clan · kinship · relatives
Intense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- homesicknessLonging for one's dwelling
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
- memoriesStored past experiences
reminiscence · sentimentality · bygone · yesteryear · remembrance · melancholy · pining · bittersweet
fatherland
One's native country
- native landCountry of origin
- birthplaceLocation of one's birth
- ancestral homeFamily's original dwelling place
patria · back home · village · province · region · soil · territory · settlement · homestead · cradle
diaspora
Scattered population sharing origins
- emigrantPerson resettling in another nation
- expatriateOne living abroad permanently
- immigrantOne who resettles abroad
migration · departure · relocation · exodus · leaving · crossing · voyage · passage · ship · border
ancestors
Those from whom one descends
- forebearsAncestral family members
- grandparentsAncestors once removed
- great-grandparentsGrandparents' own parents
lineage · genealogy · family tree · bloodline · heritage · roots · clan · kinship · relatives · descendants
longing
Intense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- homesicknessLonging for one's dwelling
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
memories · reminiscence · sentimentality · bygone · yesteryear · remembrance · melancholy · pining · bittersweet · sepia
customs
Traditional practices or import taxes
- folkloreInherited cultural narratives
- ceremoniesFormal observances with ritual
- ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
festivals · recipes · language · dialect · songs · dances · beliefs · superstitions · proverbs · storytelling
- Italian AmericansItalian Americans, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Frank Sinatra, Martin Scorsese
- homelandfatherland, native land, birthplace, patria, native soil
- homesicknesshomesick, homesickness, missing home, longing, yearning
- places of originbirthplace, fatherland, hometown, ancestral home, roots
- Immigrant Heritageimmigrant, immigrants, emigrant, ancestry, heritage month
- immigrant literatureimmigrant stories, displacement, cultural memory, belonging, assimilation
old countrynew country
Recently established sovereign state
new home · host country · new land · America · land of opportunity
old countryNew World
Western Hemisphere landmasses
America · Western Hemisphere · Australia · Canada · United States
old countrynew life
here and now · contemporary life · new beginning · fresh start
old, country, elder, older, elderly, countryside, oldest, homeland, countries