territory

[ter-i-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

noun

plural

territories 

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

/ ˈtɛrɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. See Northern Territory

territory

²

/ 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

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.

Other Word Forms

• subterritory noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of territory¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of territory¹

C15: from Latin territōrium land surrounding a town, from terra land

Idioms and Phrases

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

Example Sentences

At least 67,183 have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza since then, including 20,179 children, according to the territory's health ministry.

Read more on BBC

The AI newscasts with AI victims holding big AI checks are testing new territory, said Samuel Hyams-Millard, an associate at law firm SheppardMulin.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But as well as insisting on the need to bring down the deficit, he said the new government would need to agree on the future of France's South Pacific territory of New Caledonia.

Read more on BBC

Israel responded by launching a military offensive in Gaza which has killed more than 67,000 people, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Read more on BBC

England somehow found themselves 78-5 in pursuit of 179 to beat Bangladesh, ranked seventh in the world, and Knight was in familiar territory despite playing her first one-day international since January.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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