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
Test Your Vocabulary
Challenging Words You Should Know
-
- Often used to describe “the march of time,” what does inexorable mean?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
A daily challenge for crossword fanatics.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share territory
Time Traveler for territory
The first known use of territory was in the 14th century
See more words from the same century