Etymologically
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territory

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 22:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈter.ɪ.tər.i/, US /ˈter.ə.tɔːr.i/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English territorie,[2][3] borrowed from Latin territōrium (“land around a town, domain, district”),[2][3][4] from terra (“earth, land”) and the place suffix -orium,[3][4] perhaps on the model of words such as dormitorium and praetorium.[2][5] De Vaan notes that the formation is unexplained, since -torium is productive only after verbs;[3] an alternative view, somewhat supported by the vowels of the Latin word, derives it from terrere “to frighten”, so that it would be “a place from which people are warned off”.[3] It is related to terrain and terrace.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The land under the jurisdiction of a town, state or ruler: before 1398 in Barnhart, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew's De Proprietatibus Rerum;[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline.[3] In the OED it is first the land around a city under its jurisdiction, 1432–50.[6] It originally meant the district around a Roman or provincial city.[7]

Semantic evolution

The land under the dominion of a ruler or state is from 1494.[6] The general sense of any tract of land, a region, is from 1610 in the OED and Barnhart,[6][2] about 1600 in Etymonline.[3] The domain of a subject, profession or activity is from the 1630s,[3] 1640 in the OED.[6] Of an area defended by an animal it is from 1774.[3][6] The American sense, an organized division of the country not yet a state, is from 1787,[3] and a salesman's area from 1877 in Etymonline,[3] 1900 in the OED.[6] Each half of a football field is from 1896.[6] Territorial is from 1625.[2]

Timeline

  • a. 1398 – land under a town's jurisdiction.[2]
  • 1494 – the land of a ruler or state.[6]
  • 1610 – any region.[6][2]
  • 1625 – territorial.[2]
  • 1630s – a field of knowledge or activity.[3]
  • 1774 – an animal's territory.[3][6]
  • 1787 – a United States territory.[3]
  • 1877 – a salesman's area.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An area of land; a region.
  2. The land and waters under the jurisdiction of a government.
  3. A dependent region, or a division of a country not having the full rights of a state or province.
  4. An area that an animal or group defends against others.
  5. An area for which a person, such as a salesperson, is responsible.
  6. A field of knowledge or activity; a sphere.

Word family

  • subterritory
  • territorial
  • territoriality
  • trust territory
  • British Antarctic Territory
  • New Territories
  • Northern Territories
  • Northern Territory
  • terrain
  • terrace
  • terrestrial
  • terra

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press