Jump To:

• 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.

---

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

---

Territory ² British  

/ ˈtɛrɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. See Northern Territory

---

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.

---

territory Idioms  

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

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subterritory
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• territories
  plural

---

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

---

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

We did the awkward, parking lot, single-arm, half-hug of two guys in unfamiliar territory.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Ukraine currently uses Elon Musk's Starshield, Starlink's military-grade satellite service, for its battlefield communications, mid-range strikes on Russian-occupied territory and interceptor drones.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 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

The U.S. dollar-Singapore dollar pair’s weekly moving average convergence divergence indicator seems poised to cross into positive territory, the senior technical strategist notes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The team hoped it would be easier here for Tao Tao to blend in and make his way with less competition for territory and food.

From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh

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

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 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

Five episodes were released in Yolngu Matha, a collection of dialects from north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

In the Dakota Territory, the future president regained his physical strength and emotional equilibrium, while he deepened his rapport with ordinary Americans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

On March 2nd, the Senate passed the Kansas-Ne- braska Bill which repealed the Missouri Compromise restriction and divided the Nebraska Territory into two territories: Kansas and Nebraska.

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry

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

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

America’s expansion slowed in the late 19th century as it became more selective, taking some territories while passing up others.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

The party said it would be capable of defending the UK's critical national infrastructure, military bases and sovereign territories from sophisticated threats.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Two state-level territories went to the polls Sunday, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and the Berlin metropolitan area.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

It promised to restore her lost provinces and ceded territories.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---