terra
Americannoun
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:
Despite the many Aboriginal communities, the British deemed the place terra nullius—no one’s land—and established a penal colony, bringing diseases that drastically reduced the indigenous population.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
The fact that scientists are finding intact biochar in the Amazon’s ancient terra preta suggests that it’s happening.
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2025
They came in a small range of colors: sand, terra cotta, chestnut.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2024
That would only have been possible on terra firma, they say.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 30, 2024
One of the biggest patches of terra preta is on the high bluffs at the mouth of the Tapajos, near Santarem.
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
They excel in the art of making terras.
From An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa by Jackson, James Grey
Canoemen on the Upper Amazons live in constant dread of the "terras cahidas," or landslips, which occasionally take place along the steep earthy banks, especially when the waters are rising.
From The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Bates, Henry Walter
Science says that every thing is a lie, and would reduce every thing to figures and lines, not only maria ac terras, where we are, but coelumque profundum, where God is.
From Dona Perfecta by Serrano, Mary J. (Mary Jane)
Ultima coelicolum terras Astrea reliquit; this means, that Peace fled into a far distant country.
From The World's Best Orations, Vol. 1 (of 10) by Various
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.
