terrace Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun usually paved outdoor area adjoining a residence
    patio.
  2. noun a level shelf of land interrupting a declivity (with steep slopes above and below)
    bench.
  3. noun a row of houses built in a similar style and having common dividing walls (or the street on which they face)
    • Grosvenor Terrace
  4. verb provide (a house) with a terrace
    terrasse.
    • We terrassed the country house
  5. verb make into terraces as for cultivation
    • The Incas terraced their mountainous land

WordNet

Ter"race noun
Etymology
F. terrasse (cf. Sp. terraza, It. terrazza), fr. L. terra the earth, probably for tersa, originally meaning, dry land, and akin to torrere to parch, E. torrid, and thirst. See Thirst, and cf. Fumitory, Inter, v., Patterre, Terrier, Trass, Tureen, Turmeric.
Definitions
  1. A raised level space, shelf, or platform of earth, supported on one or more sides by a wall, a bank of tuft, or the like, whether designed for use or pleasure.
  2. A balcony, especially a large and uncovered one.
  3. A flat roof to a house; as, the buildings of the Oriental nations are covered with terraces.
  4. A street, or a row of houses, on a bank or the side of a hill; hence, any street, or row of houses.
  5. (Geol.) A level plain, usually with a steep front, bordering a river, a lake, or sometimes the sea. ✍ Many rivers are bordered by a series of terraces at different levels, indicating the flood plains at successive periods in their history.
Ter"race transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Terraced ; present participle & verbal noun Terracing
Definitions
  1. To form into a terrace or terraces; to furnish with a terrace or terraces, as, to terrace a garden, or a building. Sir H. Wotton.
    Clermont's terraced height, and Esher's groves. Thomson.

Webster 1913