territory

noun ter·ri·to·ry \ ˈter-ə-ˌtȯr-ē \

|Updated on: 17 Jul 2018

plural territories

1 a : a geographic area belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a governmental authority

b : an administrative subdivision of a country

c : a part of the U.S. not included within any state but organized with a separate legislature

d : a geographic area (such as a colonial possession) dependent on an external government but having some degree of autonomy

2 a : an indeterminate geographic area

b : a field of knowledge or interest

3 a : an assigned area; especially : one in which a sales representative or distributor operates

b : an area often including a nesting or denning site and a variable foraging range that is occupied and defended by an animal or group of animals

— go with the territory or come with the territory

: to be a natural or unavoidable aspect or accompaniment of a particular situation, position, or field

criticism goes with the territory in this job

See territory defined for English-language learners

See territory defined for kids

Examples of territory in a Sentence

Those mountains are in Mexican territory.
Guam is a U.S. territory.
The birds are busy establishing territories and building nests.
Male cats spray to mark territory.
The goal of the expedition is to map unexplored territory.

Recent Examples of territory from the Web

Plans also relied on a five-year-old earthquake and tsunami manual that had not anticipated a hurricane would affect the U.S. territory’s entire population of over 3 million.

— laignee barron, Time, "FEMA Says It Was Significantly Unprepared When Hurricane Maria Hit Puerto Rico," 13 July 2018
No one sees the exhausting side of trying to blaze the trail and go into uncharted territory.

— james hebert, sandiegouniontribune.com, "For theater community, finding ways to reflect societal diversity onstage is more urgent than ever," 13 July 2018
Meanwhile banks are making inroads into foreign territory without making big purchases.

— The Economist, "Why the euro zone hasn’t seen more cross-border bank mergers," 12 July 2018
That conflict, which some analysts fear could spiral into civil war, already has claimed at least 425 lives, according to Unicef, and is spilling into new territories.

— New York Times, "In Troubled Cameroon, U.S. Envoy Is Accused of Election Meddling," 12 July 2018
Some 60,000 people in the U.S. territory still have only tarps for roofs blown off by Maria, and more than 1,500 customers are still without power more than nine months after the storm.

— danica coto, The Seattle Times, "Power outages, flooding hits Puerto Rico, USVI amid storms," 9 July 2018
Forecasters warned that the U.S. territory could see between 15 to 25 mph winds, as well as heavy rains that could cause flooding and mudslides.

— CBS News, "Tropical Storm Beryl speeding rapidly toward eastern Caribbean," 8 July 2018
Forecasters said that Beryl would slog south — a huge relief to an island still recovering from Maria, the Category 4 hurricane that hit the U.S. territory in September and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage.

— NBC News, "Puerto Rico prepares for remnants of Beryl, as some still remain without power after hurricane," 8 July 2018
But after that, the avant-garde affair in the north woods drifts into distinctly different territory.

— erin richards, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Eaux Claires vs. Summerfest: 1 weekend, 2 very different festivals," 6 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'territory.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of territory

Middle English, from Latin territorium, literally, land around a town, from terra land — more at ¹terrace

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

territory Synonyms

Synonyms

habitat, home, niche, range;

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

TERRITORY Defined for English Language Learners

territory

noun

: an area of land that belongs to or is controlled by a government
: one of the parts of the United States that is not a state
: any one of the large parts that some countries are divided into

TERRITORY Defined for Kids

territory

noun ter·ri·to·ry \ ˈter-ə-ˌtȯr-ē \

plural territories

1 : a geographical area belonging to or under the rule of a government

2 : a part of the United States not included within any state but organized with a separate governing body

3 : region 1, district

4 : an area that is occupied and defended by an animal or group of animals

Word Root of territory

The Latin word terra, meaning “earth,” “land,” or “ground,” gives us the root terr. Words from the Latin terra have something to do with the earth or land. A territory is an area of land ruled by a particular government. A terrace is a piece of land with a flat top. Anything terrestrial lives on land and not in water.

Law Dictionary

territory

noun ter·ri·to·ry \ ˈter-ə-ˌtōr-ē \

plural -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 within any state but organized with a separate legislature — compare trust territory

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