Meaning & use
territorial
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to the land or waters that belong to a country or region.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: territorial waters, a territorial dispute.
Patterns
- territorial waters
- territorial dispute
The two nations argued over territorial claims in the Arctic.
The ship entered territorial waters without permission.
A territorial dispute held up the peace deal.
adjectivecomparable
Strongly protective of a space, area or position, and ready to defend it against others.
Grammar: Used of animals and people: a territorial dog, he is territorial about his desk.
Patterns
- territorial about something
- territorial over something
Robins are fiercely territorial in spring.
My brother gets territorial about his bedroom.
The cat grew territorial when the puppy arrived.
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Organized by region or district, such as a territorial division of government.
Grammar: Formal and administrative: territorial authority.
Patterns
- territorial army
- territorial division
The territorial division of the province was changed.
Territorial councils handle local services.
She served in the Territorial Army in her twenties.
Word forms
| comparative | more territorial |
|---|---|
| superlative | most territorial |
Common combinations
- territorial waters
- Fishing boats must stay out of foreign territorial waters.
- territorial dispute
- The territorial dispute has lasted decades.
- territorial integrity
- Leaders vowed to protect their territorial integrity.
- fiercely territorial
- Male lions are fiercely territorial.
- territorial behavior
- Dogs show territorial behavior at the fence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- possessive
- Possessive suggests wanting to keep something to yourself, and may apply to people or things, not only space.
- protective
- Protective is warmer and means guarding from harm, while territorial guards ownership of space.
- regional
- Regional means of a region, without the sense of defending it.
- proprietary
- Proprietary is formal and relates to ownership, especially in business.
Opposites
Word family
- territory noun
- an area of land under someone's control
- territoriality noun
- the tendency to defend an area
- territorially adverb
- in a manner relating to territory
- extraterritorial adjective
- outside the usual legal territory
Commonly confused: territorial or terrestrial?
territorial vs terrestrial
Terrestrial means relating to land or the Earth, not to ownership or defense of an area.
Practice
My cat becomes very ___ when a strange cat walks into the garden.
Choose one answer.
Territorial describes protecting your own area. Terrestrial is the confusable word meaning relating to land.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “territorial”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.