▪ I. terrace, n.
(ˈtɛrəs)
Forms: α. 6 terries, 6–7 terrasse, (6 terres, 6–7 terris, 7 -ice), 7–9 terrass, -as, (8 -ase), 6– terrace. β. 6–7 tarrass(e, (tarris, -es), 6–8 tarras, -ace, 7 tarasse, (tarrase, taras), taris, tarries.
[a. F. terrace (12th c.), also terrasse, tarrasse (15th c.), rubble, a platform, a terrace, = It. terraccia, -azza bad earth or soil, ‘filthie earth’ (Florio), also a terrace, later † terraccio, now terrazzo, Sp. terrazo, Pg. terra{cced}o terrace, med.L. terrācea, -ācia an earthen mound, a raised terrace, a flat roof, terrācium useless earth (Du Cange):—L. *terrācea fem. of *terrāceus adj., earthen, of the nature of earth, earthy, f. terra earth: cf. -aceous. This suffix was in the Romanic langs. used to form ns., similative, augmentative, or pejorative; hence the primary sense, useless earth, heap of earth or rubbish, whence earthen mound made for a purpose. See also tarras (formerly terras, terrace), a differentiated form of the same word in the sense ‘rubbish’, ‘rubble’, as in It. and OFr.]
1. a. A raised level place for walking, with a vertical or sloping front or sides faced with masonry, turf, or the like, and sometimes having a balustrade; esp. a raised walk in a garden, or a level surface formed in front of a house on naturally sloping ground, or on the bank of a river, as ‘The Terrace’ at the Palace of Westminster.
| α 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 48 Hard all along the Castl wall iz reared a pleazaunt Terres of a ten foot hy & a twelue brode. 1611 Bible 2 Chron. ix. 11 And the king made..terrises to the house of the Lord. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 333 Terrasse, a walk on a Bank or Bulwark. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 47 It might be allow'd twelve [foot] or more, it being a Terras,..since the Terrasses adjoyning to a House can hardly ever be too broad. 1712 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to W. Montagu 9 or 11 Dec., The terrace is my place consecrated to meditation. 1739 Gray Let. to West 21 Nov., Gardens and marble terrases full of orange and cypress trees. 1786 Mrs. Barbauld in Mem. 70 Y. vi. (1883) 62 A kind of terrass..commands a most extensive view. 1814 Scott Wav. ix, The garden..was laid out in terraces, which descended rank by rank from the western wall to a large brook. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt ii, The glass door open towards the terrace. |
| β 1579–80 North Plutarch (1595) 570 Lucullus selfe would also many times be amongst them, in those tarrasses and pleasant walkes. 1587 Churchyard Worth. Wales (1876) 104 Like tarres trim, to take the open ayre. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. ii. i, Stand by close under this tarras. 1632 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iv. (ed. 4) 269 Euery Citty..hath his peculiar walkes, Cloysters, Tarraces. 1653 Greaves Seraglio 14 Two men may walk a breast upon the Tarrase. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. v. §11 A tarrasse for a wandring and variable minde, to walke vp and downe. 1655 M. Carter Hon. Rediv. (1660) 193 A Gennet of gold enamelled black and red, upon a terrasse or bank of flowers. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 399 These rows of aludels are supported from end to end by a terrass, which runs from the body of the building, wherein the furnaces are erected. 1896 Daily News 10 Nov. 2/2 The living terraces of cripple children..added..their shrill plaudits to the general welcome. |
† c. Mil. An earthwork thrown up by a besieging force; see also
quot. 1816.
Obs.| 1579 Fenton Guicciard. xi. (1599) 510 Certaine of the Spanish footemen got vp to the terrasse or heape of Earth, and began to assaile the breach. 1600 Holland Livy v. v. 182 What should I speake of the tarraces, torteises, rams, and all other engins of assault and batterie? 1816 James Milit. Dict. (ed. 4) s.v., A terrace likewise signified..a sort of cavalier, which was carried to a great height, in order to overlook and command the walls of a town. |
d. Archæol. = cultivation terrace s.v. cultivation 1 a.
| 1796, etc. [see lynchet 2 b]. a 1964 G. Underwood Pattern of Past (1968) viii. 82 Terraces..are found on steep hillsides, and..mark places where a number of geodetic lines run parallel, with wide spaces between them... It seems reasonable to assume that they formed processional ways. |
e. At an Association Football or other sports ground, a range of steps or tiers providing accommodation for standing spectators; one of these steps or tiers (usually in
pl.) Also
attrib. in sing. Cf. terracing vbl. n. 1 b.
| 1950 Sport 7–11 Apr. 2/1 The terrace regulars are..the backbone of many present day clubs. 1959 Listener 19 Feb. 332/2 As I saw them from the terraces, I learnt that on top of everything else..they often had to play against their own supporters. 1971 [see friendly a. 3 c]. 1977 Times 6 May 2/5 [The] Minister of State for Sport..imposed his ban on the sale of terrace tickets to Chelsea supporters at away games. 1980 Observer 7 Sept. 11/6 It was more like a football terrace than Lord's. |
2. A natural formation of this character;
a. a table-land;
b. spec. in
Geol., a horizontal shelf or bench on the side of a hill, or sloping ground.
The latter is usually of soft material, formed by the action of water, and exposed by the upheaval of the sea-margin, by the deepening of a river channel, or by the diminution in volume of a lake or river.
| 1674 J. Josselyn Voy. New Eng. 202 The white mountains,..the highest Terrasse in New-England. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. vii. xcvi. 446 Some of the steepest hills are supported by many terrasses. 1832 H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. 159 Captain Vetch describes six or seven terraces or lines of beach on the Isle of Jura.., which appear to have been successively raised above the present level of the ocean. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. xvii. 278 It is not uncommon to find successive terraces of gravel. 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. vi. v. 901 Regular terraces, corresponding to former water-levels of the lake, run for miles along the shores at heights of 120, 150 and 200 ft. |
† c. The ground on which anything stands.
rare.
| 1735 Mahon tr. L'Abbat's Fencing Pref., By turning it too much it [the foot] would have no hold of the terrace. |
3. † Orig., a gallery, open on one or both sides; a colonnade, a portico; a balcony on the outside of a building (
obs.); also (formerly
obs., now revived), a raised platform or balcony in a theatre or the like (see
quot. 1961). (The earliest sense in
Eng.)
| 1515 Will J. Fowler (Somerset Ho.), To be buried w{supt} in the Terres of the church of the Monastery of Syon. 1588 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 692 For paving the Inner court and the tarris without it. 1596 Bp. W. Barlow Three Serm. i. 17 Wee haue dyned abroad in our Tarrises and open Galleries for the great heat. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 145 This yard is compassed with a building all of Marble, which lies open like a Cloyster (we call it a terras). Ibid. iii. 206 This place of Iudgement is commonly in a Porch or Terras under the Senate-house, hauing one side all open towards the market place. 1690 The Gt. Scanderbeg 131 A little Terrass, which rendred my Apartment very pleasant. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 258 Tarrace, or Tarras, an open Walk, or Gallary. 1961 Ann. Rep. Lincoln Center for Performing Arts (N.Y.) 10/1 The auditorium's shallow terraces—only six rows deep at the back and two to four seats wide at the sides—surround the orchestra level and flow towards the orchestra platform [in the Philharmonic Hall at the Lincoln Center, N.Y.]. 1963 Guardian 5 Mar. 7/3 The music sounds better in the top terrace..than in the lower terraces and orchestra. |
† 4. The flat roof of a house, resorted to for coolness in warm climates.
Obs.| 1572 Abp. Parker Let. to Ld. Burghley 13 Dec., This shop is but little and lowe and leaded flatt,..and is made like the terris..fitt for men to stande vppon in any triumphe or shewe. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. x. 27 Many faire houses of lime and stone, builded with many lofts, with their windowes and tarrisis made of Lime and earth. [1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 268 To vnderprop the Terratza, or roofe.] 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 10 All the Houses of it are built with a terrass, or flat Roof, and one may go from one street to another upon the terrasses of the houses. 1764 Harmer Observ. iii. iii. 93 This sleeping on the terraces of their houses is only in summer-time. 1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 203 On these roofs are ‘terraces’, guarded by high parapets, where the inmates sit in the cool of the evening. |
5. A row of houses on a level above the general surface, or on the face of a rising ground;
loosely, a row of houses of uniform style, on a site slightly, if at all, raised above the level of the roadway.
(Common in street nomenclature;
Adelphi Terrace (formerly Royal Terrace), London, is one of the earliest examples.)
| 1769 (23 June) Lease (in Mortgage 20 Aug. 1782), A parcel of Ground..[which] adjoineth towards the north on vaults situate under the houses built on The Royal Taras [Adelphi, London]. 1796 New Plan of London [has] ‘Lambeth Terrace, behind Lambeth Palace’. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 113/2 The terraces in the Regent's Park, Hyde Park Terrace near Bayswater, and that in St. James's Park. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke i, My earliest recollections are of a suburban street: of its jumble of little shops and little terraces. |
6. A soft spot in marble, which is cleaned out and the cavity filled up with a paste.
Cf. terracy a.
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Terrases (Masonry), hollow defects in marble or fissures filled with nodules of other substances. The hole, being cleared out, is filled with marble dust and mastic of the same color. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. a. Of or pertaining to, having, forming, or consisting of a terrace or terraces, as
terrace-bank,
terrace-bower,
terrace cottage,
terrace-garden,
terrace-parapet,
terrace-region,
terrace-roof,
terrace-stair,
terrace-step,
terrace-walk,
terrace-wall,
terrace-work;
obj. and
obj. genitive, as
terrace-keeper,
terrace-maker;
terrace-like,
terrace-mantling adjs.;
terrace-cultivation, the cultivation of hill-sides in terraces; so
terrace-culture;
terrace-epoch (
Geol.), see
quot. 1885;
terrace house, one of a row of
usu. similar houses joined by party-walls.
| 1834 L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine 94 The *terrace-banks of the Seine. |
| 1823 Joanna Baillie's Collect. Poems 119 Each whisper'd sigh Of the soft night-breeze through her *terrace-bowers Bore softer tones. |
| 1973 A. Hunter Gently French iv. 34 Adjacent to the Barge-House were three sad *terrace cottages. 1978 Spectator 13 May 12/2 Neat little freshly painted two-storey terrace cottages with gardens nearby—already a century old. |
| 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 144 The *terrace-cultivation,..clothing with fertility the mountain-sides. 1903 Bradford Antiquary July 346 Signs of terrace-cultivation are to be met with in different parts of the county. |
| 1863 Fawcett Pol. Econ. ii. vii. (1876) 212 The establishment of *terrace culture on the hills. |
| 1862 Dana Man. Geol. 554 The time when they were raised..corresponds to the *Terrace epoch; and during the process other parallel terraces were formed. 1885 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. iii. ii. ii. §3. 369 In North America, the river-terraces exist on so grand a scale that the geologists of that country have named one of the later periods of geological history, during which those deposits were formed, the Terrace Epoch. |
| 1705 Addison Italy 59, I went to see the *Terrace-Garden of Verona, that Travellers generally mention. 1861 Queen Victoria Jrnl. 20 Sept. (1980) 99 The Castle of Auch Mill, which..has traces of a terrace garden remaining. 1931 A. U. Dilley Oriental Rugs & Carpets iii. 58 Many ‘tree’ and ‘landscape’ rugs are terrace-garden rugs. |
| 1817 Jane Austen Sanditon (1954) x. 413 They were in one of the *Terrace Houses. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 697 A terracehouse or semidetached villa. 1958 Listener 5 June 947/1 Look at the new hospital-block in Guildford Street, Bloomsbury, and see how well it goes with the old terrace-houses. 1972 Guardian 6 Nov. 15/3 The rank and file knew that the real Ulster crisis was happening inside the terrace houses. |
| 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. xxxv. 397 This pile of stone..comes down out of the clouds in a succession of rounded, colossal, *terrace-like projections. 1963 Times 18 May 5/2 One of the finest things was his terrace-like build-up of the beginning of the allegretto from the Seventh Symphony. 1974 C. Taylor Fieldwork in Medieval Archaeol. iii. 28 These terrace-like features [sc. strip lynchets] on hillsides are the remains of medieval strip cultivation. |
| 1824 Campbell Theodric 37 Clustering trees and *terrace-mantling vines. |
| 1854 Dickens Hard T. ii. vii. 207 Tom sat down on a *terrace-parapet, plucking buds. |
| 1834 Penny Cycl. II. 472/2 Ten or twelve intermediate formations, constituting the *terrace-regions. |
| 1802 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) III. 161, I have a *terrace roof. 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, Terrace Roof, those which are flat like terraces. |
| a 1668 Davenant Man's the Master iv. i, Pass through the gall'ry up the *tarras-stairs into my closet. |
| 1865 J. H. Ingraham Pillar of Fire (1872) 218 We soon landed at the grand *terrace-steps of the quay. |
| 1637 Suckling Aglaura iii. i, Eleven; under the *Tarras walke; I will not faile you there. 1693 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 174 The queens tarras walk at Whitehall, facing the Thames, is now finished. 1707 Terrace walk [see side-wing s.v. side n.1 27]. 1775 J. Woodforde Diary 14 Apr. (1924) I. 151 Round it is a fine Terrass Walk which commands the whole City. 1858 M. Tuckett Diary 16 Sept. (c 1975) 5 A broad terrace walk goes along the front of the new part of the house. |
| 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 25 A low *Terrass-Wall, from whence you have a View of the Country round about. |
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xv. (1856) 108 Its edges..were abrupt precipices, resembling the *terrace-work of trap-rock. |
b. Used to designate a style of women's and girls' clothing suitable for wearing at an informal party.
| 1963 Guardian 2 Feb. 5/2 A series of terrace (ex-casino) dresses. 1965 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 24 Oct. 24 (caption) Terrace skirt combines bright red, white, and blue in a lively outfit for girls who want to look graceful at casual parties. 1971 Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg) 4 Dec. 3/8 (Advt.), A fabulous collection of the popular terrace gowns. 1972 Times 19 Dec. 11/3, I do not like the idea of little girls in low-cut evening dresses..but I do think that the pale blue terrace two-piece..is a delight. |
Hence
ˈterracer, one who stands or walks on a terrace:
cf. terracing 2;
ˈterrace-wards adv., towards the terrace;
ˈterrace-wise adv., in the manner of a terrace.
| 1786 F. Burney Diary 7 Aug., All the *terracers stand up against the walls, to make a clear passage for the Royal Family. |
| 1909 Daily Chron. 20 July 1/1 Pilgrims who arrived on the Westminster Bridge and bent their gaze *terrace-wards. |
| 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 156 Each shop..archt above and..atop *tarraswise framed, and with plaister..cemented. 1898 Daily News 19 May 7/1 St. Pierre, Martinique,..nestles terrace-wise against and amid a perfect paradise of greenery. |
▸ A terraced house.
| 1854 Times 19 July 9/2 If a few rows of terraces, more or less, were placed upon it [sc. Hampstead-heath], no possible injury could accrue to the health-seekers. 1894 Bull. (Sydney) 3 Feb. 13/1 Formerly, the grasping ‘trap’, hurrying to get rich and own his little terrace, moved heaven and earth to get on to a ‘Chow’ beat. 1959 J. Cary Captive & Free 41 The mid-town terraces which can and have so easily become slum tenements. 1984 J. Rogers Her Living Image xviii. 197 Beyond the mills..were the rows of terraces—mean little houses, with low ceilings and dark cramped rooms. 2006 Sun (Nexis) 20 July Colette..and Tony..will still keep their modest terrace..because they want to retain links to friends. |
▪ II. terrace obs. form of
tarras.
▪ III. ˈterrace, v. Forms: see the
n.; also 7
pa. pple. terassed.
[f. terrace n., or a. F. terrasser (16th c. in Godef. Compl.).] 1. trans. To form into a terrace or raised bank; to fashion or arrange in terraces. Also
to terrace up. (Chiefly in
pass. until 19th c.;
cf. next.)
| 1650 Fuller Pisgah iii. ii. §5 The ascent..was..terrased on both sides with Pillasters made of..Almuggin trees. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece i. 13 The Walls also being well Terrassed. 1827 Keble Chr. Y. 3rd Sund. Advent, Mountains terrass'd high with mossy stone. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. ii. viii. §3 The plots, terrassed up one above another, are often not above four feet wide. 1880 I. L. Bird Japan I. 85 Fields formed by terracing sloping ground. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 7 Oct. 2/2 The Kusi River in Bengal..brings down enormous quantities of silt,..making fertile plains, terracing the land, changing its bed, destroying forests. |
† 2. To furnish with a ‘terrace’ or balcony; to provide (a house) with a loggia or terrace-roof. (Chiefly in
pass.:
cf. next.)
Obs.| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. i. 31 [Minarets] tarrast aloft on the out side like the maine top of a ship. 1624 Wotton Archit. in Reliq. (1651) 260 Which [light] we must now supply..by Tarrasing any Story which is in danger of darknesse. 1631 Heywood London's Jus. Hon. Wks. 1874 IV. 276 A faire and curious structure archt and Tarrest aboue. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 49 The houses..are flat and tarrased atop. |
3. intr. (
nonce-use.) To rise in terraces (in
quot., used of ranges of houses).
| 1900 Speaker 29 Dec. 342/1 Pink and white and blue tenements..terrace recklessly above each other from the river to the sky-line. |