terroir

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French terroir.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tɛːˈwɑː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /tɛɹˈwɑɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)

Noun

terroir (countable and uncountable, plural terroirs)

1. The complete set of local conditions in which a particular wine or family of wines is produced, including soil type, weather conditions, topography and wine-making savoir-faire.
   • 2023 July 13, Paul Simms, “A Night Out with the Guys” (7:04 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows‎, season 5, episode 2, spoken by Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry):

     “It's got an ass-load of terroir.” “The fuck do you know, terroir?” “What do you mean?”

Synonyms

• somewhereness

Derived terms

• terroirist

Anagrams

• rortier

French

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *terratorium, from Classical Latin territorium, from terra (“land”). Compare the borrowed doublet territoire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛ.ʁwaʁ/ ~ /te.ʁwaʁ/

• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -waʁ

Noun

terroir m (plural terroirs)

1. soil
2. land, landscape, country

Related terms

• terre

Further reading

• “terroir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.