terrain

[ tuh-reyn ]

/ təˈreɪn /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR terrain ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

Geology. terrane.

Words nearby terrain

terrachlor, terracing, terracotta, terraform, terraforming, terrain, terramara, terramycin, terrane, terrapin, terraqueous

Origin of terrain

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for terrain

It is this kind of terrain that makes this country so hard to secure.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley|Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The drawback was that the terrain in front of Bradley made success very costly.
Blood in the Sand: When James Jones Wrote a Grunt’s View of D-Day|James Jones|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As forbidding as this terrain is, there is another force at work on the ocean surface – the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
MH370 Debris Is Lost Forever, Can the Plane Be Found Without It?|Clive Irving|September 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It depends on the strengths of the team members and the terrain.
Pippa Middleton To Cycle Across America ... Starting Tomorrow|Tom Sykes|June 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Pearson did note that laws regulating this terrain can be useful in some very narrow circumstances.
Are You Legally Responsible for Your Elderly Parents?|Keli Goff|April 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A real ghost could have done that, I suppose, but so could any person in reasonable physical shape who knew the terrain.
The Blue Ghost Mystery|Harold Leland Goodwin
Shann studied the terrain with more knowledge than he had possessed a week earlier.
Storm Over Warlock|Andre Norton
The terrain here in Virginia is specially fit for attacks in columns, according to continental European tactics.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863|Adam Gurowski
Bill scanned the terrain ahead, vainly seeking the burnt-over area.
Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol|Henry Harley Arnold
Judging from the nature of the terrain, the range of gracilis does not extend eastward much beyond the Raft River Mountains.
The Pocket Gophers (Genus Thomomys) of Utah, Vol. 1 No. 1|Stephen D. Durrant

British Dictionary definitions for terrain

terrain

/ (təˈreɪn, ˈtɛreɪn) /

noun

ground or a piece of ground, esp with reference to its physical character or military potentialradio reception can be difficult in mountainous terrain; a rocky terrain

a variant spelling of terrane

Word Origin for terrain

C18: from French, ultimately from Latin terrēnum ground, from terra earth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

terrain

noun

Words related to terrain

Words nearby terrain

Origin of terrain

Examples from the Web for terrain

British Dictionary definitions for terrain

noun

Word Origin for terrain