terrace

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɛɹəs/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French terrace, from terrace, terrasse (“platform raised on a mound of earth; rubble”),^[2][3][4][5] from Vulgar Latin *terrācea, the feminine of *terrāceus (“earthen”),^[3][2][4] from Latin terra (“earth, land”) (see terrain).^[2][3] Merriam-Webster derives the French from Old Occitan terrassa.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A gallery, portico or balcony: 1515 in Barnhart and the OED, the 1510s in Etymonline.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

A raised level place for walking, especially one with a view, is from 1575.^[2][7][3] A natural shelf on a hillside is from 1674 (the 1670s in geology),^[2][3][7] and a cultivation terrace on a slope from 1796.^[7] A row of houses, first along the top of a slope, is from 1769, at first in street names like Adelphi Terrace,^[3][8] and later used of ordinary streets.^[3] The tiered standing areas of a football ground are from 1950.^[7]

Timeline

• 1515 – a gallery or balcony.^[2][7]
• 1575 – a raised walk.^[2]
• 1674 – a natural terrace.^[2]
• 1769 – a row of houses.^[3]
• 1950 – football terraces.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A level area cut into a slope, often one of a series.
2. A row of houses joined by shared walls, or the street they face.
3. A paved area beside a building, used as an outdoor living space; a patio.
4. (British) Tiers of standing room at a sports ground.

Verb

1. To form a slope into terraces, or provide with a terrace.

Word family

• terraceless

Related words

• terra
• terrain
• terrene
• terrestrial
• terrier
• territorial
• territory
• inter

Usage notes

In Lincolnshire a terrace was a raised footpath beside a road;^[9] in Yorkshire and Cheshire the name terrace or tarras was also given to a kind of mortar.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)