n.
   - a level paved area adjoining a building.
 - each of a series of flat areas on a slope, used for cultivation. 
▸Brit. a flight of wide, shallow steps providing standing room for spectators in a stadium.
 ▸Geology  a natural horizontal shelf-like formation, such as a raised beach.
 - Brit. a row of houses built in one block in a uniform style.
 
v.
 make or form (sloping land) into terraces.
 
  Derivative
  
  Etymology
  C16: from OFr., lit. ‘rubble, platform’, based on L. terra ‘earth’.