母ぼ国こく

ぼ

こ

く

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

one's home country; one's homeland

Refers to the country where one was born or holds citizenship, often used in contexts of living abroad or international comparison.

彼かれは母ぼ国こくを離はなれて十じゅう年ねんになる。
It has been ten years since he left his home country.
母ぼ国こくの文ぶん化かを海かい外がいで紹しょう介かいする活かつ動どうをしている。
I am involved in activities to introduce my home country's culture abroad.

See all 14 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉が母ぼ国こくに帰かえるfor someone to return to their home country
彼かれは十じゅう年ねんぶりに母ぼ国こくに帰かえった。
He returned to his home country for the first time in ten years.
〈人ひと〉が母ぼ国こくを離はなれるfor someone to leave their home country
彼かの女じょは仕し事ごとのために母ぼ国こくを離はなれて海かい外がいで暮くらしている。
She left her home country and lives abroad for work.
母ぼ国こくのために〈動どう詞し〉to do something for one's home country
選せん手しゅたちは母ぼ国こくのために全ぜん力りょくを尽つくした。
The athletes gave their all for their home country.

Kanji

母mother
国country

Related words

祖そ国こく
祖国 carries a stronger emotional or patriotic tone, while 母国 is the neutral, everyday word for the country where one was born or holds citizenship.
本ほん国ごくN1
本国 is used in more formal, legal, or administrative contexts (e.g. immigration papers), whereas 母国 is the common word used in everyday or emotional speech about one's homeland.
故こ郷きょうN3
故郷 refers to one's specific hometown or birthplace, while 母国 refers to the entire country of one's nationality or birth.
自じ国こくN1
母国 also means 'one's home country' but carries a warmer, more personal nuance (like 'motherland'), while 自国 is neutral and typical of political or economic contexts.
故こ国こく
母国 is a warm, everyday term for one's mother country, whereas 故国 is more formal and evokes distance or separation from home.

Opposites

外がい国こくN5
外国 means 'a foreign country', the direct opposite of 母国, one's own home country.

Don't confuse with

母ぼ校こうN1
母校 refers to one's old school, while 母国 (sharing the 母 kanji) means one's home country, so learners must not confuse the two.

Word family

母ぼ国こく語ごN1
mother tongue; native language; language of one's country

Etymology

Compound of 母 (mother) and 国 (country), literally 'mother country'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is conventionally associated with one's native land.