Terraces

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Multiple flat surfaces arranged in a systematic manner on sloped land for cultivation or landscaping purposes
2. Elevated, flat areas designed for planting or leisure activities, often found on hillsides or building facades
3. Series of level platforms built along a hillside to prevent erosion and create areas for planting or recreation

Etymology: "Terraces" is the plural of "terrace," so the story belongs to the singular. The noun arrived in English by way of French, which borrowed "terrasse" from Old Occitan "terrassa." Behind that lies a Vulgar Latin form, "terrācea," built on "terra," the Latin word for land or earth. The sense of a raised, earthen platform or bank is therefore older than the modern garden meaning, and the word's core idea is simply ground that has been built up. The English "terrace" and the French "terrasse" are doublets, two forms of one word that entered a language by separate routes. Both descend from the same Latin root, so the terraced hillside and the paved outdoor patio share an ancestor in the soil itself.

Synonyms: balconies, platforms

Antonyms: basements