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n. 1. a. A porch or walkway bordered by colonnades. b. A platform extending outdoors from a floor of a house or apartment building. 2. An open, often paved area adjacent to a house serving as an outdoor living space; a patio. 3. A raised bank of earth having vertical or sloping sides and a flat top: turning a hillside into a series of ascending terraces for farming. 4. A flat, narrow stretch of ground, often having a steep slope facing a river, lake, or sea. 5. a. A row of buildings erected on raised ground or on a sloping site. b. A section of row houses. c. Abbr. Ter. or Terr. A residential street, especially along the top or slope of a hill. 6. A narrow strip of landscaped earth in the middle of a street. tr.v. ter·raced, ter·rac·ing, ter·rac·es 1. To provide (a house, for example) with a terrace or terraces. 2. To form (a hillside or sloping lawn, for example) into terraces. [French, from Old French, from Old Provençal terrassa, from Vulgar Latin *terrācea, feminine of *terrāceus, earthen, from Latin terra, earth; see ters- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]  (click for a larger image) terraceterraced rice paddies Bali, Indonesia |
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