terra nullius
Americannoun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The land was described as terra nullius, not really belonging to anybody.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 30, 2017
Canada was not terra nullius, or nobody’s land, as the fiction of the time had it, when Europeans came to live there in the 17th century.
From Economist ● Jun. 29, 2017
Croatia issued an official diplomatic statement once again, explaining that the territory identified as Liberland was not, in fact, terra nullius, and that they would continue to forcibly remove homesteaders.
From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2015
There is a socially arrived at agreement that the other stall is what in international law is described as terra nullius, or land belonging to no one.
From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2014
On land rights, the High Court's milestone Mabo decision, which last year marked its 20th anniversary, rejected the doctrine of "terra nullius", the idea that the continent was ownerless prior to British settlement.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
