Overview
Some people might think “Terraria” is just a made-up word. (I did until very recently.) Others might know that it’s a real word, but don’t know exactly what it means. Plus a lot of people don’t know the correct way to say it… So this guide is going to teach you the definition of the word & also how to correctly pronounce it.
What the word means
Terraria is the plural form of the word “terrarium”. A terrarium is a small glass container that you grow plants inside of. It contains soil, plants, and sometimes even small animals. It’s similar to an aquarium.
Here’s a photo of a terrarium:
The first five letters of the word, “Terra”, are derived from the Latin language. Terra is Latin for “Earth”.
Knowing that Terra means Earth, it helps you understand other words too. Like if you look at the word “terraform”, it literally just means forming the earth. Also if you look at the word Terrarium again, the first part of the word is terra/earth, and the last part is arium. “arium” is a Latin suffix added on to the end of some words, and it means “a place”, or an enclosure. So “terra-rium” means an enclosure of earth. Also looking at the word “aquarium”, the first part is “aqua”, which is water, and the last part is “arium”, so it means an enclosure of water.
So something in common with a terrarium and the game Terraria, is that they both contain a lot of life. Whether it be plants or animals, lots of living things thrive in both of them. That’s why the game is named Terraria, because when you create a world in it, you’re greeted with tons of plants, animals, and just tons of life. Which is exactly what’s inside of a terrarium.
So pretty much, your world in Terraria IS a terrarium. It’s your own little small enclosure full of life.
How to pronounce it
tur-air-ee-uh – CORRECT
tur-are-ee-uh – WRONG
So when pronouncing Terraria, you say it like Terr-AIR-ia. Not Terr-R-ia.
The correct pronunciation of the word comes from how you pronounce terrarium. So just imagine that you’re saying “terrarium”, but at the end of the word instead of saying “um”, you replace it with “uh”. Terraria.
Thanks
Thanks for checking out my guide! It’s not much, but still, I hope you learned something new. 😀