'Terrace' is Latin for 'earthen platform' — from 'terra' (earth). Flat land cut from slopes.
A level paved area next to a building; a flat area cut out of a slope for cultivation or as a platform. A row of houses built in one block in a uniform style. In geology, a raised flat area of land with a steep front or side.
From Old French terrasse, from Old Provençal terrassa (a raised platform of earth), from terra (earth, land). Terra derives from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (dry) — dry land as opposed to water — or more broadly from *dhéǵʰōm (earth), a root that gave Latin terra, humus, and Greek khthōn. The architectural object named is a raised flat area of compacted earth — the original terraces were earthen platforms in gardens, vineyards, and hillside agriculture. The Romans used terracing extensively in Mediterranean agriculture to
Terrace farming — the practice of cutting flat steps into hillsides for agriculture — is one of humanity's greatest landscape engineering achievements. The rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, carved by the Ifugao people over 2,000 years ago, are often called the 'Eighth Wonder of the World.' The Inca built spectacular terraces at Moray in Peru that may have served as agricultural laboratories, with each level at a slightly different altitude