TERRITORY

noun (plural -ries) see: terrace Date: 14th century 1. a geographic area belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a governmental authority, an administrative subdivision of a country, a part of the United States not included within any state but organized with a separate legislature, a geographic area (as a colonial possession) dependent on an external government but having some degree of autonomy, 2. an indeterminate geographic area, a field of knowledge or interest, 3. an assigned area, an area often including a nesting or denning site and a variable foraging range that is occupied and defended by an animal or group of animals