terra
Americannoun
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terras
plural
noun
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A rough highland or mountainous region of the moon with a relatively high albedo.
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Compare mare
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A vast highland region on a planet.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of terra
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1605–15
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.
See Examples For:
The search for terra incognita can explain the explosion, in the 20th century, of science fiction and magical realism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
But the fear was that it would happen in space, when you’re 180 miles from terra firma and the nearest fire station.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2025
They came in a small range of colors: sand, terra cotta, chestnut.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2024
This is really quite intriguing as we do not know much about these parts of the genome; our work shows there is benefit in exploring further this genetic terra incognita.'
From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2024
On a local level, terra preta is valuable enough for locals to dig it up and sell as potting soil, an activity that, alas, has already destroyed countless artifacts.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
He began again, starting with Juno’s unforgiving cruelty, sweeping into the cave of winds, and finally breaking into the storm: ruunt et terras turbine perflant.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
She is emphatically addressed as a Power, present through all the world,— Caeli subter labentia signa Quae mare navigerum quae terras frugiferentis Concelebras.
From The Roman Poets of the Republic by W. Y. Sellar
Referring to the results of the great discovery, Lope beautifully says that it gave— Al Rey infinitas terras Y á Dios infinitas almas.
From Christopher Columbus and His Monument Columbia being a concordance of choice tributes to the great Genoese, his grand discovery, and his greatness of mind and purpose by J. M. (John Marcus) Dickey
Many times a day have I repeated with tears the verse: Heu, fuge crudeles terras, fuge littus avarum!
From Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) The Age of the Despots by John Addington Symonds
They excel in the art of making terras.
From An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa by James Grey Jackson
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.
