terrain
tuh-RAIN
The physical character of a stretch of land — its slope, roughness, elevation, soil, and vegetation considered as a whole. Terrain is what your feet negotiate while landscape is what your eyes take in. The word implies difficulty. Nobody describes a parking lot as terrain.
Etymology
French: terrain (ground, land), from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *terranum, from Latin terra (earth, land). Related to territory and terrace.
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