territory definition

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English territorie, from Latin territōrium.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛɹɪt(ə)ɹi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

territory (countable and uncountable, plural territories)

1. A large extent or tract of land; for example a region, country or district.
2. (Canada) One of three of Canada's federal entities, located in the country's Arctic, with fewer powers than a province and created by an act of Parliament rather than by the Constitution: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
3. (Australia) One of three of Australia's federal entities, located in the country's north and southeast, with fewer powers than a state and created by an act of Parliament rather than by the Constitution: Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory.
4. A geographic area under control of a single governing entity such as state or municipality; an area whose borders are determined by the scope of political power rather than solely by natural features such as rivers and ridges.
   • 1711 August 9, “The Love of Glory”, in The Spectator‎^[1], volume 3:

     Lewis of France had his infancy attended by crafty and worldly men, who made extent of territory the most glorious instance of power, and mistook the acquisition of fame, for the spreading of honour.

   • 2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

     Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.

5. (ecology) An area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against its conspecifics.
6. (sports and games) The part of the playing field or board over which a player or team has control.
   • 2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, in BBC Sport:

     Scotland had the territory and the momentum, forcing England into almost twice as many tackles and rattling them repeatedly at set-pieces.

7. A geographic area that a person or organization is responsible for in the course of work.
   • 1993, Robert D. Hisrich, Ralph W. Jackson, Selling and Sales Management, →ISBN, page 160:

     A well-designed sales territory allows a salesperson to make best use of his time with present and potential customers and minimize travel time.

8. A location or logical space which someone owns or controls.
   • 1979, Raymond Lifchez, Barbara Winslow, Design for Independent Living, →ISBN, page 97:

     The establishment of a personal territory almost invariably precedes the sharing of a territory with a mate. For those who are unable to make a break from the parental home, this stage is almost never reached.

   • 2010, Christian Müller-Tomfelde, Tabletops - Horizontal Interactive Displays, →ISBN, page 371:

     In general, when a group member wanted an item that was located in someone else's personal territory, they would ask that person to pass them the item.

   • 2014, Stevi Jackson, Shaun Moores, The Politics of Domestic Consumption, →ISBN, page 305:

     Now that the days of handbag-carrying women have largely drawn to a close, houseworkers rarely have a clearly marked-out personal territory — although for some the dressing-table may be a non-transportable handbag equivalent.

9. A market segment or scope of professional practice over which an organization or type of practitioner has exclusive rights.
   • 2008, Kathleen Fahy, Maralyn Foureur, Carolyn Hastie, Birth Territory and Midwifery Guardianship, →ISBN, page 7:

     The medical registration act eventually did form the foundation for medicine to be able to claim an ever increasing occupational territory and the domination of all other health disciplines.

10. An area of subject matter, knowledge, or experience.
    • 2011, Laura Simms, Our Secret Territory: The Essence of Storytelling, →ISBN, page xv:

      As a result, as the years have passed, my involvement with storytelling has expanded to the territory of compassionate action.

    • 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift

      The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled.

    • 2013, Hadley Hoover, Uncharted Territory, →ISBN, page 25:

      I'd like to be friends, but on a new level. Can't you try to understand that? And here's a harder question" Can we achieve it? This is uncharted territory for both of us.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations