terrace
pronunciation
How to pronounce terrace in British English:
UK [ˈterəs]
How to pronounce terrace in American English:
US [ˈterəs]
-
- Noun:
- usually paved outdoor area adjoining a residence
- a level shelf of land interrupting a declivity (with steep slopes above and below)
- a row of houses built in a similar style and having common dividing walls (or the street on which they face)
-
- Verb:
- provide (a house) with a terrace
- make into terraces as for cultivation
Word Origin
- terrace
- terrace: [16] Terrace is one of a small family of English words that go back ultimately to Latin terra ‘earth, land’. This was probably descended from Indo-European *tersā- ‘dry’ (source also of English thirst, torrid, etc), in which case it denoted etymologically ‘dry land’, as opposed to ‘sea’. The family also includes inter [14] (etymologically ‘put into the earth’), terra cotta [18] (from Italian, literally ‘cooked earth’), terra firma [17] (literally ‘firm land’), terrain [18], terrestrial [15], terrier [15] (etymologically a dog which is sent down burrows in the ‘earth’ after its quarry), terrine, territory [15], and tureen. Terrace itself came via Old French terrace from the Vulgar Latin derivative *terrāceus, which denoted a ‘platform made from a pile of earth or rubble’.=> terrain, terrestrial, terrier, terrine, territory, thirst, torrid, tureen
- terrace (n.)
- 1510s, "gallery, portico, balcony," later "flat, raised place for walking" (1570s), from Middle French terrace (Modern French terasse), from Old French terrasse (12c.) "platform (built on or supported by a mound of earth)," from Vulgar Latin *terracea, fem. of *terraceus "earthen, earthy," from Latin terra "earth, land" (see terrain). As a natural formation in geology, attested from 1670s. In street names, originally in reference to a row of houses along the top of a slope, but lately applied arbitrarily as a fancy name for an ordinary road. As a verb from 1610s, "to form into a terrace." Related: Terraced.
Example
- 1. It climaxes with dessert wine on the mansion 's rooftop terrace .
- 2. Vegetation is not always necessary while arranging your terrace or open yards .
- 3. The houseboat is accessible through the terrace / court .
- 4. A beautiful view of the black sea opens from its terrace .
- 5. A big concrete flap creates an open terrace covered near the deck .