- 1地形、地勢。台灣登山、越野、軍事訓練都常用這個概念——重點在「這塊地好不好走、坡多陡、路面多糟」，不是風景。中文的「地形」偏地理形狀，terrain 更帶有「通過它有多難」的實用味道。
The land itself, thought of as a surface you have to cross — how flat or steep it is, how rough, how hard to walk or drive over. When you say 'rocky terrain', 'mountainous terrain', 'flat open terrain', you are not describing a view. You are describing what the ground will do to you.
That is what separates 'terrain' from 'land' or 'ground' or 'scenery'. Soldiers, , cyclists, , and rescue teams all use it, because for them the shape of the ground decides everything: 'the terrain is too steep for vehicles', 'they trained on difficult terrain'. It is a slightly technical, practical word.
It is usually uncountable — 'the terrain was rough', not 'a terrain'. You can say 'a type of terrain' or 'different terrains' when you are sorting the world into kinds, but that is the exception.
English also uses it for ideas. 'Familiar terrain' means a subject you know well; 'this is dangerous terrain' in a conversation means a topic where you could easily get into trouble. That picture — an argument as a landscape you move through — is very common in writing and speech, and once you notice it you will see it everywhere.
From the word’s history
From French terrain, from Latin terrenum 'land, ground', from terra 'earth'.
借自法文 terrain，源自拉丁文 terra「土地」。
組成英文原封不動從法文 terrain 借來（拼法、意思都照搬）。法文再往上是拉丁文 terrenum「土地、地面」，源頭是 terra「大地」。
同家族的字
- terracealso from Latin terra — a raised flat piece of ground
- territoryfrom Latin terra — a stretch of land belonging to someone
- terraformbuilt on the same terra, 'earth'
- Mediterraneanmedi- 'middle' + terra 'land' — the sea in the middle of the land
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
terrainnoun/təˈɹeɪn/
- 1
geographygeologynatural-sciencesA single, distinctive rock formation; an area having a preponderance of a particular rock or group of rocks.
- 2
An area of land or its particular features.
- The race will be run over a variety of terrain, including grass and sand.
- 3
aeronauticsaerospaceaviationThe surface of the earth; the ground.
- This approach requires the aircraft to stay at an altitude of at least 3000 feet MSL until crossing the VOR in order to maintain terrain clearance.
- controlled flight into terrain
- 4
homeopathymedicinesciencesAn individual's overall state of health.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。