Meaning & use
intercountry
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Involving two or more countries, as when a person or arrangement crosses a national border.
Grammar: Used before a noun: intercountry adoption, not 'the adoption is intercountry'.
Patterns
- intercountry adoption
- intercountry cooperation
The agency specializes in intercountry adoption and helps families complete the paperwork.
Intercountry comparisons of school results should be made with care.
Treaties govern intercountry transfers of prisoners.
Common combinations
- intercountry adoption
- Intercountry adoption involves the laws of two nations.
- intercountry comparison
- An intercountry comparison showed large differences in health spending.
- intercountry transfer
- The intercountry transfer of funds takes a few days.
- intercountry cooperation
- Police rely on intercountry cooperation to track fraud.
Synonyms and how they differ
- international
- International is the everyday word for anything between nations, and it works with far more nouns than intercountry.
- cross-border
- Cross-border suggests physically crossing a frontier, as in trade or crime, rather than a formal arrangement.
- transnational
- Transnational stresses activity or organizations that operate beyond national limits, and is common in academic writing.
Opposites
Word family
- country noun
- a nation with its own government
- international adjective
- between or involving nations
- intercontinental adjective
- between continents
Commonly confused: intercountry or interstate?
intercountry vs interstate
Interstate refers to the states within one country, such as the American states, while intercountry means between nations.
Practice
A couple from Canada adopts a child born in Colombia. This process is usually called ___ adoption.
Choose one answer.
Adoption across national borders is 'intercountry adoption'. 'Domestic' and 'intracountry' describe adoption within one country, and 'interstate' refers to states within a country.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intercountry”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.