territory

territory
territory (n.) early 15c., "land under the jurisdiction of a town, state, etc.," probably from L. territorium "land around a town, domain, district," from terra "earth, land" (see TERRAIN (Cf. terrain)) + -orium, suffix denoting place (see -ORY (Cf. -ory)).
An alternative theory, somewhat supported by the vowels of the original Latin word, suggests derivation from terrere "to frighten" (see TERRIBLE (Cf. terrible)); thus territorium would mean "a place from which people are warned off." Sense of "any tract of land, district, region" is first attested c.1600. Specific U.S. sense of "organized self-governing region not yet a state" is from 1799.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • territory — ter‧ri‧to‧ry [ˈtertri ǁ tɔːri] noun territories PLURALFORM 1. [countable, uncountable] MARKETING an area which is the responsibility of a particular salesperson: • His sales force s territory comprises Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa and Wisconsin …   Financial and business terms

  • territory — ter·ri·to·ry / ter ə ˌtōr ē/ n pl ries 1: a geographical area belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a governmental authority 2: a political subdivision of a country 3: a part of the U.S. (as Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands) not included… …   Law dictionary

  • Territory — Ter ri*to*ry, n.; pl. {Territories}. [L. territorium, from terra the earth: cf. F. territoire. See {Terrace}.] 1. A large extent or tract of land; a region; a country; a district. [1913 Webster] He looked, and saw wide territory spread Before him …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • territory — [ter′ə tôr΄ē] n. pl. territories [ME < L territorium < terra,TERRA] 1. the land and waters under the jurisdiction of a nation, state, ruler, etc. 2. a part of a country or empire that does not have the full status of a principal division;… …   English World dictionary

  • Territory — (engl., d.i. Gebiet), die officielle Bezeichnung eines innerhalb der Grenzen der Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika gelegenen, durch Congreßacte abgegrenzten Landesgebietes, welches nochnicht die zur Bildung eines eigenen Staates erforderliche… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • territory — ► NOUN (pl. territories) 1) an area under the jurisdiction of a ruler or state. 2) (Territory) an organized division of a country not having the full rights of a state. 3) an area defended by an animal against others of the same sex or species.… …   English terms dictionary

  • territory — *domain, province, *field, sphere, bailiwick Analogous words: region, tract, *area, zone, belt: limits, confines, bounds (see singular nouns at LIMIT) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • territory — [n] domain, region area, belt, block, boundary, colony, commonwealth, country, district, dominion, empire, enclave, exclave, expanse, extent, field, land, mandate, nation, neck of the woods*, neighborhood, province, quarter, section, sector,… …   New thesaurus

  • territory —    by Kylie Message   In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari privilege ideas of spatiality (evidenced by the privileged term of plateau ) and the geographies and cartographies of movement, presenting these as an informal antidote to history …   The Deleuze dictionary

  • territory —    by Kylie Message   In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari privilege ideas of spatiality (evidenced by the privileged term of plateau ) and the geographies and cartographies of movement, presenting these as an informal antidote to history …   The Deleuze dictionary

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