territory

noun

ter·ri·to·ry | \ ˈter-ə-ˌtȯr-ē

plural territories

Definition of territory

1a : 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

2a : an indeterminate geographic area

b : a field of knowledge or interest

3a : 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

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Synonyms for territory

Synonyms

habitat, home, niche, range

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 on the Web

When Hurricane Maria devastated the United States territory of Puerto Rico, causing untold amounts of damage and ultimately killing nearly 3,000, President Donald Trump offered paper towels. — Dennis Tang, Teen Vogue, "Trump's Offer to Help Notre-Dame Rebuild Doesn't Match His Response to Puerto Rico's Disaster," 19 Apr. 2019 To expect a return of this territory after such a belligerent action is simply fanciful thinking. — WSJ, "Golan and Crimea Annexations Are Different," 8 Apr. 2019 India has accused Pakistan of harboring the terrorist group believed responsible for the attacks, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), allowing the group to operate out of Pakistani territory. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Aircraft Shot Down As Crisis Between India and Pakistan Escalates," 27 Feb. 2019 Obviously there’s nothing silly about the general idea of walls to separate pieces of territory. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "The shutdown is intractable because Trump’s wall is ridiculous and Republicans know it," 8 Jan. 2019 Decades later, though, large areas of the mountainous jungle territory still remain outside of Jakarta's control. — Stephen Wright, Fox News, "Polish globe-trotter blunders into Indonesia-Papua conflict," 24 Sep. 2018 In 1982, Argentina invaded the British overseas territory the Falkland Islands, starting a war. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "Get to Know Prince Andrew, the Father of Princess Eugenie and Beatrice," 13 Aug. 2018 Elements that Amtrak studies include switches, the type of territory, the number of grade-level crossings, construction equipment along the track and the weather forecast, Meko said. — Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, "Railroads have improved safety since fatal S.C. collision, Amtrak and CSX officials say," 10 July 2018 The show traces the street's history back to Augustus Woodward, the first judge of the Michigan territory, who arrived in 1805 and devised an interlocking hexagon plan of pathways for downtown Detroit. — Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit's Woodward Ave. chosen as one of 10 streets that changed America," 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.

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Last Updated

24 Apr 2019

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Time Traveler for territory

The first known use of territory was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for territory

territory

noun

English Language Learners Definition of territory

: 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

See the full definition for territory in the English Language Learners Dictionary

territory

noun

ter·ri·to·ry | \ ˈter-ə-ˌtȯr-ē

plural territories

Kids Definition of territory

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 sense 1, district

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

territory

noun

ter·ri·to·ry | \ ˈter-ə-ˌtōr-ē

plural territories

Legal Definition of territory

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

Other Words from territory

territorial \ ˌter-ə-ˈtōr-ē-əl

\ adjective

territorially adverb

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