Meaning & use
territory
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
An area of land that belongs to or is controlled by a country, ruler or group.
Grammar: Countable for a particular area (a territory) and uncountable for land in general (enemy territory).
Patterns
- the territory of somewhere
- in enemy territory
The two countries argued over the border territory.
Soldiers crossed into enemy territory at dawn.
Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark.
nouncountable or uncountablebiology
An area that an animal or bird defends against others of its kind.
Grammar: Often used with mark or defend: the dog marked its territory.
Patterns
- defend its territory
- mark its territory
The wolves howled to warn others away from their territory.
The robin chased the intruder out of its territory.
Male lions mark their territory with scent.
nouncountable or uncountablefigurative
An area of work or activity that a person is responsible for or familiar with.
Grammar: Often figurative: a sales territory, or unfamiliar territory.
Patterns
- be on familiar territory
- come with the territory
Each salesperson covers a different territory.
Public speaking is new territory for her.
Long hours come with the territory in a hospital.
Word forms
| plural | territories |
|---|
Common combinations
- enemy territory
- The pilot crash-landed in enemy territory.
- uncharted territory
- The company is moving into uncharted territory.
- familiar territory
- Cooking pasta is familiar territory for him.
- mark out territory
- The cat marked out its territory around the garden.
- comes with the territory
- Criticism comes with the territory of being a leader.
Synonyms and how they differ
- region
- Region names a part of a country or the world and does not suggest anyone controls or defends it.
- domain
- Domain is broader and suggests an area of knowledge or authority, often more abstract than territory.
- turf
- Turf is an informal word, often for a gang's area or a person's area of authority.
- province
- Province is a formal administrative division of a country, or someone's area of responsibility.
Word family
- territorial adjective
- relating to an area of land, or protective of one's space
- territoriality noun
- the behavior of defending an area
- extraterritorial adjective
- outside the territory of a country's laws
- territories noun
- plural form for several areas
Commonly confused: territory or terrain?
territory vs terrain
Terrain describes the physical features of the ground, such as hills and mud, while territory is about who controls an area.
Practice
When someone says, "Being on call at night comes with the territory," they mean that it is ____.
Choose one answer.
Come with the territory means something is an expected part of a situation or job. It is not an exception, a punishment or an actual location.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “territory”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.