rustic

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rus·tic / ˈrəstik/ • adj. 1. having a simplicity and charm that is considered typical of the countryside: bare plaster walls and a terra-cotta floor give a rustic feel. ∎ often derog. lacking the sophistication of the city; backward and provincial: you are a rustic halfwit. 2. constructed or made in a plain and simple fashion, in particular: ∎  made of untrimmed branches or rough timber: a rustic oak bench. ∎  Archit. with rough-hewn or roughened surface or with deeply sunk joints: a rustic bridge. ∎  denoting freely formed lettering, esp. a relatively informal style of handwritten Roman capital letter. • n. often derog. an unsophisticated country person. DERIVATIVES: rus·ti·cal·ly / -ik(ə)lē/ adv. rus·tic·i·ty / rəˈstisətē/ n.

rustic, rustick.
1. Species of masonry characterized by surfaces artificially roughened or left rough-hewn, or by having the joints, notably the horizontal ones, emphasized by being deeply sunk or chamfered. See also rustication.

2. Simple, plain, unrefined, and made of rough materials (e.g. roughly hewn tree-trunks), to suggest rural architecture or the Picturesque.

rustic pert. to the country XV; sb. countryman, peasant XVI. — L. rūsticus, f. rūs country.
So rusticate (-ATE3) retire to the country XVII; trans. XVIII. f. pp. stem of L. rūsticārī live in the country. rustication XVII. — L. rusticity XVI. — F. or L.

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