territoriality

American  

[ter-i-tawr-ee-al-i-tee, -tohr-] / ˌtɛr ɪˌtɔr iˈæl ɪ ti, -ˌtoʊr- /

noun

1. territorial quality, condition, or status.

2. the behavior of an animal in defining and defending its territory.

3. attachment to or protection of a territory or domain.

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territoriality British  

/ ˌtɛrɪˌtɔːrɪˈælɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state or rank of being a territory

2. the behaviour shown by an animal when establishing and defending its territory

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territoriality Scientific  

/ tĕr′ĭ-tôr′ē-ăl′ĭ-tē /

1. A behavior pattern in animals consisting of the occupation and defense of a territory.

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Other Word Forms

• nonterritoriality noun

Etymology

Origin of territoriality

First recorded in 1890–95; territorial + -ity

Example Sentences

This territoriality makes it easier for human observers to get relatively close to them.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2025

The book's final chapter, which aims to "consider man in the free spirit of natural history, as though we were zoologists from another planet," touches on the evolutionary origins of language, territoriality, and other behaviors.

From Salon • Feb. 22, 2022

Joe Galusha started scrutinizing Northwest gulls during the Vietnam War as a way to better understand hostility, aggression and territoriality.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 20, 2019

But ego, territoriality and philosophical differences resulted in paralysis — and ultimately, the material suggests, lead to an inability to prevent 9/11.

From Washington Post • Feb. 28, 2018

These are, in fact, the engineering artifacts of intelligent beings: roads, highways, canals, farmland, city streets—a pattern disclosing the twin human passions for Euclidean geometry and territoriality.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan