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• territory
  territory

  noun

  any tract of land; region or district.
• Territory
  Territory

  noun

  See Northern Territory

territory

American  

[ter-i-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈtɛr ɪˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

• territories
  plural

1. 

   any tract of land; region or district.

2. the land and waters belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a state, sovereign, etc.

   Synonyms:

   sovereignty, dominion, domain

3. any separate tract of land belonging to a state.

4. (often initial capital letter)

   1. a region or district of the U.S. not admitted to the Union as a state but having its own legislature, with a governor and other officers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

   2. some similar district elsewhere, as in Canada and Australia.

5. a field or sphere of action, thought, etc.; domain or province of something.

6. the region or district assigned to a representative, agent, or the like, as for making sales.

7. the area that an animal defends against intruders, especially of the same species.

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territory ¹ British  

/ ˈtɛrɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. any tract of land; district

2. the geographical domain under the jurisdiction of a political unit, esp of a sovereign state

3. the district for which an agent, etc, is responsible

   a salesman's territory

4. an area inhabited and defended by an individual animal or a breeding group of animals

5. an area of knowledge

   science isn't my territory

6. (in football, hockey, etc) the area defended by a team

7. (often capital) a region of a country, esp of a federal state, that enjoys less autonomy and a lower status than most constituent parts of the state

8. (often capital) a protectorate or other dependency of a country

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Territory ² British  

/ ˈtɛrɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. See Northern Territory

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territory Scientific  

/ tĕr′ĭ-tôr′ē /

1. A geographic area occupied by a single animal, mating pair, or group. Animals usually defend their territory vigorously against intruders, especially of the same species, but the defense often takes the form of prominent, threatening displays rather than out-and-out fighting. Different animals mark off territory in different ways, as by leaving traces of their scent along the boundaries or, in the case of birds, modifying their calls to keep out intruders.

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territory Idioms  

1. see come with the territory; cover the field (territory).

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subterritory
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• territories
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of territory

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin territōrium “land around a town, district,” from terr(a) “land” + -i- -i- + -tōrium -tory ²

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Explanation

A certain area that's owned or under the control of someone is called a territory. Countries defend their territories during wars and dogs mark their territory in the yard by peeing on it. Although the territory of a country includes its entire area, the noun can also specifically refer to an area governed by a country, but one that isn't a state or province. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, for example. The noun territory can also be used to describe any assigned region or area, such as a salesman whose territory is the Midwest — that means that he's in charge of business in there.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

territory Territory territories

Then Ca’ron Williams came up with another interception deep in Braves territory, leading to a one-yard touchdown run by Petero.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

However, the graphite available in German-controlled territory contained impurities that made it unsuitable for the same purpose.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

“Is it possible to go farther in that direction?” he asked the soldier, motioning toward Ukrainian territory.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok and Jakarta were also deep in negative territory, though there were gains in Wellington, Mumbai and Manila.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

The following year, Mexico forbids further American colonization of Texas and prohibits the importation of more slaves into the territory.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Another Outback creature, commonly found in the Northern Territory, is the buffalo.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

Dog racing is banned in the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania has announced plans to phase it out.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Koalas have been officially listed as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory since 2022.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

We credit Jefferson with purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 for $15 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

In 1912, at nineteen, he’d packed a bag, like Huck Finn lighting out for the Territory, and gone to live with his uncle, a domineering cattleman named William K. Hale, in Fairfax.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

The resulting atlas revealed 539 chemically distinct territories, which the researchers named "lipizones."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

And this summer, Meta struck a high-profile $18bn settlement with 48 US states, plus the District of Columbia and three US territories.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

For our family of six, there are always two baskets, dividing the table into loose territories.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

Among possible laureates this year are a joint prize to Save the Children and Mykola Kuleba, a Ukrainian children's rights activist campaigning for the return of Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia from occupied territories.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

A large part of the electorate turned to the Nazi party and its leader, Adolf Hitler, who condemned the peace treaty and vowed to regain Germany’s lost territories and restore its military might.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

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Related Words

• area
• colony
• country
• district
• enclave
• field
• land
• nation
• neighborhood
• province
• sector
• state
• street
• terrain
• zone

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