patria

Patria, patriae, f., first declension. It began life as an adjective: terra patria, "the land of one's fathers", from pater. The noun terra dropped away and the feminine adjective was left standing on its own, which is why a word that looks like it should mean something about a father means a country.

The trap is confusing it with pater, patris, "father", and with patrius, "ancestral". Watch also the phrase in patriam redire, "to return home", where the accusative signals motion. Spanish patria, Italian patria and French patrie all continue it, and English took patriot, expatriate and repatriate from the same stem.