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• territory
  territory

  noun

  any tract of land; region or district.
• Territory
  Territory

  noun

  See Northern Territory

territory

American  

[ter-i-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈtɛr ɪˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

noun

• territories
  plural

1. 

   any tract of land; region or district.

2. the land and waters belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a state, sovereign, etc.

   Synonyms:

   sovereignty, dominion, domain

3. any separate tract of land belonging to a state.

4. (often initial capital letter)

   1. a region or district of the U.S. not admitted to the Union as a state but having its own legislature, with a governor and other officers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

   2. some similar district elsewhere, as in Canada and Australia.

5. a field or sphere of action, thought, etc.; domain or province of something.

6. the region or district assigned to a representative, agent, or the like, as for making sales.

7. the area that an animal defends against intruders, especially of the same species.

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territory ¹ British  

/ ˈtɛrɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. any tract of land; district

2. the geographical domain under the jurisdiction of a political unit, esp of a sovereign state

3. the district for which an agent, etc, is responsible

   a salesman's territory

4. an area inhabited and defended by an individual animal or a breeding group of animals

5. an area of knowledge

   science isn't my territory

6. (in football, hockey, etc) the area defended by a team

7. (often capital) a region of a country, esp of a federal state, that enjoys less autonomy and a lower status than most constituent parts of the state

8. (often capital) a protectorate or other dependency of a country

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Territory ² British  

/ ˈtɛrɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. See Northern Territory

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territory Scientific  

/ tĕr′ĭ-tôr′ē /

1. A geographic area occupied by a single animal, mating pair, or group. Animals usually defend their territory vigorously against intruders, especially of the same species, but the defense often takes the form of prominent, threatening displays rather than out-and-out fighting. Different animals mark off territory in different ways, as by leaving traces of their scent along the boundaries or, in the case of birds, modifying their calls to keep out intruders.

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territory Idioms  

1. see come with the territory; cover the field (territory).

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subterritory
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• territories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of territory

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin territōrium “land around a town, district,” from terr(a) “land” + -i- -i- + -tōrium -tory ²

Explanation

A certain area that's owned or under the control of someone is called a territory. Countries defend their territories during wars and dogs mark their territory in the yard by peeing on it. Although the territory of a country includes its entire area, the noun can also specifically refer to an area governed by a country, but one that isn't a state or province. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, for example. The noun territory can also be used to describe any assigned region or area, such as a salesman whose territory is the Midwest — that means that he's in charge of business in there.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

territory Territory territories

Another time, deep in Rutgers territory, Riley passed up on a fourth-quarter field goal on fourth down, only for USC’s fourth-down pass to come up short.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

In his opinion, some of the recent discussions about AI risk have approached the territory of “science fiction.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

Howie Buffett’s appointment as chairman ushers in a new era at Berkshire, and puts the conglomerate in uncharted territory.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Whatever happens on the listing front, experts say India's biggest trophy asset is entering totally uncharted territory.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

A fox watched as the mechanical creature galloped through his territory.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

Another Outback creature, commonly found in the Northern Territory, is the buffalo.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

Koalas have been officially listed as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory since 2022.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

Five episodes were released in Yolngu Matha, a collection of dialects from north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Northern Territory Police Force Commissioner Martin Dole said that 25 years was a "significant milestone" and that he hoped the release of new images could jog memories or lead to a tip-off.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

I heard that in Indian Territory they tried to send Natives from the Five Civilized Tribes to combat schools, but they quickly figured out what was what and all ran off.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

The image also encompassed several French overseas territories, such as Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

Their methods offer a foundation for similar work elsewhere in France, Europe, and overseas territories.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

The data is based on information from advisory firm Oxford Economics, which modeled data center capex in 36 countries and territories and five regions.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

The ICC began to concern the great powers when it ramped up investigations of abuses by nonmember states on the territories of member states.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

The army now protested that it had never actually surrendered but had simply agreed to a cease-fire, and at the time of the armistice was still in possession of vast conquered territories.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• area
• colony
• country
• district
• enclave
• field
• land
• nation
• neighborhood
• province
• sector
• state
• street
• terrain
• zone