territory

/ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi/

//ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"territory" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“territory” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,505. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,505
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A large extent or tract of land; for example a region, country or district.

Corpus desk

Index EN-territory · territory · English

territory · rank #2,505 · 12 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,505
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH switch

Nearest frequency peer: switch (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “territory”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “territory” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for territory
PropertyValue
Headwordterritory
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi/
Letters9
Frequency rank#2,505
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “territory”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).territorylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “switch” (#2,504), “threat” (#2,506), “statistics” (#2,503). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “territory” is #2,505. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around territory (IPA /ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,505 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for territory, with forms such as "etrritory", "terirtory", and "teritory". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English territorie, from Latin territōrium. The correct English form is territory, spelled T-E-R-R-I-T-O-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A large extent or tract of land; for example a region, country or district.
  2. 2
    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. 3
    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. 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.
  5. 5
    An area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against its conspecifics.
  6. 6
    The part of the playing field or board over which a player or team has control.
  7. 7
    A geographic area that a person or organization is responsible for in the course of work.
  8. 8
    A location or logical space which someone owns or controls.
  9. 9
    A market segment or scope of professional practice over which an organization or type of practitioner has exclusive rights.
  10. 10
    An area of subject matter, knowledge, or experience.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how territory appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English territorie, from Latin territōrium.

This word in other languages

territorio(Español)territoire(Français)Territorium(Deutsch)território(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etrritory
  • terirtory
  • teritory
  • terriotry
  • territorry
  • territoryy
  • territoyr
  • territroy
  • territtory
  • terrtiory
  • treritory
  • tterritory

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of territory - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

etrritory2terirtory2teritory1terriotry2territorry1territoryy1territoyr2territroy2
Edit distance from "territory"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "territory"?
"territory" is spelled T-E-R-R-I-T-O-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi/.
What does "territory" mean?
As a noun, "territory" means: A large extent or tract of land; for example a region, country or district.
What are common misspellings of "territory"?
Common misspellings include "etrritory", "terirtory", "teritory", "terriotry", "territorry". The correct spelling is "territory".
How do you pronounce "territory"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "territory" is /ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "territory"?
Inherited from Middle English territorie, from Latin territōrium. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "territory", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

appointed#2,511boyfriend#2,518newspaper#2,492explained#2,535

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

republic12 variantspainting12 variantsfacility12 variantsdelivery12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list