terrain

noun

ter·​rain tə-ˈrān 

also te-

1

a(1)

: a geographic area

(2)

: a piece of land : ground

b

: the physical features of a tract of land

2

: terrane sense 1

3

a

: a field of knowledge or interest

b

: environment, milieu

Synonyms of terrain

• area
• realm
• element
• field
• domain
• walk
• department
• sphere
• kingdom

Examples of terrain in a Sentence

We had to drive over some rough terrain.

We hiked through a variety of terrains.

Recent Examples on the Web

The terrain, however, remains challenging. — Osmary Hernández, CNN Money, 27 June 2026

For more than a decade, the team has tracked the lions of Queen Elizabeth National Park, often working in terrain so dense that traditional filming became impossible. — Sarah Kingdom, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026

Given the terrain, the bridge-driveway was designed to reduce the grading level, Bilyk said. — David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 27 June 2026

The one place where there was a line outside was for Arizona’s exhibit, which had an interactive that allowed visitors to put themselves in terrain from the state. — Gary Fields, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

French, land, ground, from Old French terrein, from Vulgar Latin *terranum, alteration of Latin terrenum, from neuter of terrenus of earth — more at terrene

First Known Use

1766, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Phrases Containing terrain

• all-terrain vehicle

Rhymes for terrain

• abstain
• airplane
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane
• betaine
• biplane
• blockchain
• butane
• campaign

Kids Definition

terrain

noun

ter·​rain tə-ˈrān 

also te-

: the surface features of an area of land

rough terrain