'Territory' is Latin for 'land around a town' — from 'terra' (earth). A tract of habitable ground.
An area of land under the jurisdiction of a ruler or state; a region or area with particular characteristics; an area defended by an animal against others of the same species.
From Latin 'territōrium' (land around a town, the district under a city's jurisdiction), from 'terra' (earth, land, dry ground) + the suffix '-tōrium' (a place associated with the root action or object). 'Terra' derives from PIE *ters- (to dry, to become dry), reflecting the conceptual contrast between the habitable dry surface and the surrounding sea or water — 'terra firma,' the firm dry land. The same PIE root *ters- gives Latin 'torrēre' (to burn dry, to parch, whence 'torrid,' 'torrent' — a burning rush of water — and 'toast'), and through
The word 'territory' may contain a double etymology. The standard derivation is from 'terra' (land), making territory simply 'a tract of land.' But the Roman jurist Pomponius suggested it came from 'terrēre' (to frighten) — territory as land from which people are warned away, land defended by the threat of