Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

terrain

/təˈɹeɪn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.94 in modern English

Syllables: ter-rain
IPA: /təˈɹeɪn/

7

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A single, distinctive rock formation; an area having a preponderance of a particular rock or group of rocks.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

An area of land or its particular features.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The surface of the earth; the ground.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

An individual's overall state of health.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"The race will be run over a variety of terrain, including grass and sand."
"This approach requires the aircraft to stay at an altitude of at least 3000 feet MSL until crossing the VOR in order to maintain terrain clearance."
"controlled flight into terrain"
"TOO LOW, TERRAIN"

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French terrain, from Latin terrenum (“land, ground”), neuter of terrenus (“consisting of earth”), from terra (“earth”).

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: *ters-, terrenum

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /təˈɹeɪn/
British English: /təˈɹeɪn/

Usage

Inflected Forms

terrains (plural)

Derived Forms

multiterrain

Phrases

all-terrain all-terrain vehicle controlled flight into terrain height above average terrain human terrain linguistic terrain terrain awareness and warning system terrain park

Synonyms

terrane ground

Rhymes With

main pain campaign train brain explain remain gain plane rain chain maintain

Questions

How do you pronounce terrain?: The recorded pronunciation is /təˈɹeɪn/.
What does terrain mean?: A single, distinctive rock formation; an area having a preponderance of a particular rock or group of rocks.
Where does terrain come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce terrain

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “terrain”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/təˈɹeɪn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “terrain”.
Repeat and practice — Say “terrain” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.