terrain

American  

[tuh-rayn] / təˈreɪn /

noun

• terrains
  plural

1. 

   a tract of land, especially as considered with reference to its natural features, military advantages, etc.

2. Geology. terrane.

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terrain British  

/ təˈreɪn, ˈtɛreɪn /

noun

1. ground or a piece of ground, esp with reference to its physical character or military potential

   radio reception can be difficult in mountainous terrain

   a rocky terrain

2. a variant spelling of terrane

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• terrains
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of terrain

1720–30; < French ≪ Vulgar Latin *terrānum, noun use of neuter of *terrānus of land. See terra, -an

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Explanation

An ATV, or all-terrain vehicle, is useful for people who drive on lots of different terrain, hence the name. Terrain is a noun used to talk about the ground, when you're specifically interested in how it appears or is shaped. In times of war, you'll often hear the term "hostile terrain" used to describe a region with lots of mountains, vast stretches of desert, or impenetrable jungles. These are all areas of difficult terrain that are hard to pass. Much of humankind's history can be traced by its effort to alter the terrain. We've made mountains into meadows, rivers into lakes, and prairies into roads, all to make the terrain more livable for us. You could even go so far as to say that a person's psyche is mysterious terrain.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

terrain terrains

The Sierra Madre mountains appeared to help limit Simon's strength, with the rugged terrain reducing the storm's intensity and shrinking the area affected by its winds.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

To locate and draw attention to a lost hiker on mountainous terrain, Sgiath is trained to bark and bounce around to attract attention.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Researchers will also examine the stability of the terrain to better understand how safely astronauts, robotic vehicles, and other equipment can move across the surface.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

Airlines, regulators and aerospace manufacturers have worked to stamp out deadly accidents resulting from overshooting runways, mistakenly flying into terrain or failures in aircraft structures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Tala Leprosarium is located in the isolated foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains on 1,500 acres of rich, rolling land and sloped terrain.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

The U.S. has a diverse range of terrains across its 3.8 million square miles, including the desert in the Southwest.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026

Part of the museum’s expansive textile collection, Rosalena’s 27-foot-long tapestry is woven with hand-weaving patterns using satellite images the artist distorted from planetary terrains from Mars and Earth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026

"A large variety of geological terrains exists, which have been formed by many different processes. As a result, Greenland has several types of metals, minerals and gemstones," it says in a document on its website.

From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026

The rally involved driving over a range of terrains from sand dunes, mud, rocks and dry river beds.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026

On top of that, they had selected one of the most nearly impossible terrains on Earth.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

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Related Words

• area
• contour
• field
• ground
• land
• province
• region
• soil
• territory
• topography
• turf

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