Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The aggregate characteristics of the environment in which a food or wine is produced, including regional and local climate, soil, and topography.
  • noun The flavor imparted to a food or wine by such characteristics.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun 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.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, cultivated land, terroir, from Old French, terreoir, from Vulgar Latin *terratōrium, alteration (influenced by Latin terra, land) of Latin territōrium, territory; see territory.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowing from French terroir.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Learned here.

    April 9, 2008

  • see also mridangam.

    April 9, 2008

  • (F.) The situation in which wine is made.

    May 13, 2008

  • "terroir" is the unique quality that a region of origin imparts on something. Most used for wine, but there is no reason it can't include a personage, e.g. the terrior of a midwesterner.

    June 22, 2009