Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TER'RI-TO-RY, n. [Fr. territoire; It. and Sp. territorio; L. territorium, from terra, earth.]

1. The extent or compass of land within the bounds or belonging to the jurisdiction of any state, city or other body. Linger not in my territories. Shak. They erected a house within their own territory. Hayward. Arts and sciences took their rise and flourished only in those small territories where the people were free. Swift.
2. A tract of land belonging to and under the dominion of a prince or state, lying at a distance from the parent country or from the seat of government; as, the territories of the East India Company; the territories of the United States; the territory of Michigan; Northwest territory. These districts of country, when received into the union and acknowledged to be states, lose the appellation of territory. Constitution of the United States.