Meaning of territory in English

territory

/ˈter.ɪ.tər.i/ us

/ˈter.ə.tɔːr.i/

territory noun [C or U] (AREA)

(an area of) land, or sometimes sea, that is considered as belonging to or connected with a particular country or person:

He was shot down in enemy territory.

The UN is sending aid to the occupied territories.

(also Territory)

(especially in Australia, Canada, and the United States) a large area that has some local government but fewer rights than a province or a state :

Here are some top tips for travel in Canada's Yukon Territory.

Puerto Rico, an island in the Caribbean Sea, has been a territory of the United States since 1898.

Australia's Northern Territory (NT) could become the country's seventh state.

an area that an animal or person tries to control or thinks belongs to them:

The robin keeps other birds off that part of the garden - that's his territory.

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We can't afford to make any false moves once we're in enemy territory.
The planes fly low across enemy territory.
Missiles have been launched from their pads deep in enemy territory.
The government prohibits the passage of foreign troops and planes across its territory.
For years the two nations battled over territory.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Geography: areas of land in general

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Towns & regions: parts of countries

territory noun [C or U] (SUBJECT)

a subject that you know about or have experience in:

The director is back on familiar territory with his latest film.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Habitual and customary

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Idiom

go/come with the territory

(Definition of territory from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

territory | American Dictionary

territory

noun [ C/U ]

/ˈter·əˌtɔr·i, -ˌtoʊr·i/

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an area of land, sea, or space, esp. when it belongs to or is connected with a particular country, person, or animal:

[ U ] Maryland gave up territory to form Washington, DC.

[ C ] The UN is sending aid to the occupied territories.

Idiom

go with the territory

(Definition of territory from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

territory | Business English

territory

noun

/ˈterɪtəri/ us

plural territories

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[ C or U ]

an area of a town, country, etc. that someone has responsibility for in their job:

A salesman's failure to achieve apparently realistic targets might be due to a change in the size of his territory.

Europe has been very fertile territory for our products.

[ C or U ]

land that belongs to a particular country:

The island is a territory of Australia.

The four new oil contracts will amount to a half billion dollars worth of foreign investment in their territory.

[ C or U ]

an area of knowledge or activity:

This is a territory that lies somewhere between mainstream sport and video games.

Online selling was new territory for us.

[ U ] FINANCE

the general level of a price, amount, value, etc.:

Crude oil prices are approaching unchartered territory.

Persistent production problems helped drive oil prices further into record territory yesterday.

sth comes/goes with the territory

something always or often happens in a particular situation and you must accept it:

It is never easy to accept criticism, but it comes with the territory.

Examples of territory

territory

What could be achieved was rational control of the instincts, a measured re-conquest by the ego of the lost territories in the id.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Young animals usually do not get territories containing females for some time.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Claims have also been made by the inhabitants of protected territories in domestic courts.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The village areas did not as yet form territories in the strictest sense though.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Furthermore, for a successful integration of the new territories into the empire the establishment of local centers of power was of great importance.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In the control and expropriation of indigenous peoples, the act of naming settlements and territories is well understood.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Whether they then fostered a politically conservative power or a revolutionary one depended mainly on the political constellation in the territories concerned at the times.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The mind is one of the last unknown territories of this world.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Both sing (the hummingbird adds a courtship dance), defend territories and mates, raise young, and migrate seasonally for long distances.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In general, males establish and defend territories during the breeding season before the arrival of females.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The bounded space of the ethnic group may not be applicable in times when regional clan networks or inter-ethnic age-set territories predominated.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Later they requested the territory's attainment of independence as a separate political entity.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A separate edict concurrently issued to him showed that the colonisation of the aboriginal territories had been approved as government policy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Pairs may wait until suitable snow-free patches are exposed on their territories before initiating a clutch.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In respect of our five studies of mentoring, once again we see them heading off into slightly different and rather ill-distinguished territories.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with territory

territory

These are words often used in combination with territory.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

acquisition of territory

The fact of success by a people in excessive acquisition of territory carries no higher guarantee of eternal approval.

From the

Hansard archive

Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0

colonial territory

This was accomplished by innovative initiatives, such as voyages to explore the colonial territory.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

conquered territory

The analysis of the drawings also makes it possible to discuss the role of the road in the integration of the conquered territory.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all collocations with territory

What is the pronunciation of territory?

Translations of territory

in Chinese (Traditional)

領域, 領土, 領地…

Meaning of territory in English

territory noun [C or U] (AREA)

territory noun [C or U] (SUBJECT)

Idiom

territory | American Dictionary

Idiom

territory | Business English

See also

Examples of territory

Collocations with territory

territory

Translations of territory

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