territorial

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌter.ɪˈtɔː.ri.əl/, US /ˌter.əˈtɔːr.i.əl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin territōriālis, from Latin territōrium (“territory”) (see territory).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to a particular territory or district: 1625 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, the 1620s in Etymonline.^[5][3][2]

Semantic evolution

Relating to territory or land in general is from 1768, and to landed property from 1773.^[5] Of a United States territory it is by 1791.^[2] Territorial waters is from 1841.^[2][5] British territorial regiments date from 1881, and the Territorial Army, the home defence force, from 1907.^[2][3] In zoology, relating to an area an animal defends, it is from 1920, and the territorial imperative from 1966.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1625 – of a territory.^[5][3]
• 1791 – of a US territory.^[2]
• 1841 – territorial waters.^[2][5]
• 1907 – Territorial Army.^[2]
• 1920 – territorial animals.^[2][5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a territory or the land under a jurisdiction.
2. Restricted to or owned by a particular territory: territorial waters.
3. Local or regional.
4. Of a territorial army, a reserve for home defence.
5. Of animals or people, defending an area against others.

Noun

1. A member of a territorial army.

Word family

• territorially
• exterritorial
• interterritorial
• nonterritorial
• preterritorial
• subterritorial
• territorialism
• territorialize

Related words

• territory
• terrain
• terrestrial

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ 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