'country-dweller' originates from English, specifically the words 'country' and 'dweller'. 'Country' comes via Middle English from Old French 'contree' (from Vulgar Latin 'contrata') meaning 'land, region', and 'dweller' is formed from the verb 'dwell' plus the agent suffix '-er'.

'country' changed from Old French 'contree' and Middle English forms (e.g. 'contre', 'contreé') into modern English 'country'. 'Dweller' developed in Middle English from the verb 'dwell' + '-er' to denote a person who dwells, producing the compound 'country-dweller'.

Initially it literally meant 'a person who dwells in a particular country/region'; over time it retained the primary sense 'a person living in the countryside' and also gained occasional figurative/pejorative uses meaning 'an unsophisticated rural person'.