English
terrain
Terrain comes from French terrain ‘ground, landscape’, from Latin terrenus ‘consisting of earth’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ters- ‘dry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ters-‘dry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*terzā‘earth’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterra‘earth’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEterrenus‘consisting of earth’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEterrenum‘land, ground’neuter of terrenus
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*terranumreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400terrain
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘ground, landscape’
- Englishtodaysame form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ters-‘dry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*terzā‘earth’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterra‘earth’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEterrenus‘consisting of earth’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEterrenum‘land, ground’neuter of terrenus
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*terranumreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400terrain
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘ground, landscape’
- Englishtodaysame form
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ters- ‘dry’
test, toast, thirst, inter, torrent, terrestrial, torrid, 44 more
through Latin terra ‘earth’
territory, territorial, terrier, fossa, fosse, terroir, 18 more
through Latin terrenus ‘consisting of earth’
Today it means
noun A single, distinctive rock formation; an area having a preponderance of a particular rock or group of rocks.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ters- / terrain