territory
/ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi/noun
territory is spelled T-E-R-R-I-T-O-R-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is teritory: about 80 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 38 of all searches for the word. Territory is a noun meaning “A large extent or tract of land; for example a region, country or district”. The plural of territory is territories.
How many letters and syllables are in territory?
| Letters | 9: T-E-R-R-I-T-O-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 40 times per million words; the 2,487th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, teritory, about 80 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell territory?
Territory is spelled T-E-R-R-I-T-O-R-Y. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 30 of the searches for territory in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is territory?
Territory appears 40 times per million words in written English, the 2,487th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce territory?
- US /ˈtɛɹɪˌtɔɹi/
- UK /ˈtɛɹɪt(ə)ɹi/
Territory has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-territory.ogg, LL-Q7979-Soundguys-territory.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of territory
- territories plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does territory mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A large extent or tract of land; for example a region, country or district.
- 2
CanadaOne 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
AustraliaOne 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.
- 5
An area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against its conspecifics.
- 6
The part of the playing field or board over which a player or team has control.
- 7
A geographic area that a person or organization is responsible for in the course of work.
- 8
A location or logical space which someone owns or controls.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate territory?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of territory: Terr..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Territory in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | territoire |
| German | Territorium, Gebiet , Revier |
| Portuguese | território |
| Spanish | territorio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does territory come from?
Inherited from Middle English territorie, from Latin territōrium.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).