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Sir Terry enjoyed stellar success with his Discworld series of comic fantasy novels, selling 70 million books worldwide.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007, he became an active campaigner for assisted dying.
His death was announced on his Twitter account by his daughter in her father's own writing style.
The first post said: "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER."
In his books Death's words always appear in capitals.
The next tweet said: "Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night."
And the last simply said: "The End."
She later wrote: "Many thanks for all the kind words about my dad. Those last few tweets were sent with shaking hands and tear-filled eyes."
A statement issued following his death said the best-selling writer passed away at his home with his cat sleeping on his bed surrounded by his family on Thursday.
It said he battled the progressive disease with his trademark determination and creativity, and continued to write.
He completed his last book, a new Discworld novel, in the summer of 2014, before succumbing to the final stages of the disease.
Larry Finlay, MD at Transworld Publishers: "I was deeply saddened to learn that Sir Terry Pratchett has died. The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds.
"In over 70 books, Terry enriched the planet like few before him.
"As all who read him know, Discworld was his vehicle to satirise this world: he did so brilliantly, with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention.
"Terry faced his Alzheimer's disease (an 'embuggerance', as he called it) publicly and bravely.
"Over the last few years, it was his writing that sustained him. His legacy will endure for decades to come.
"My sympathies go out to Terry's wife Lyn, their daughter Rhianna, to his close friend Rob Wilkins, and to all closest to him."
Fellow author and Sir Terry's friend Neil Gaiman said: "Thirty years and a month ago, a beginning author met a young journalist in a Chinese restaurant, and the two men became friends, and they wrote a book, and they managed to stay friends despite everything.
"Last night, the author died.
"There was nobody like him. I was fortunate to have written a book with him, when we were younger, which taught me so much. I'll miss you, Terry."
Alzheimer's Society chief executive Jeremy Hughes said: "Sir Terry Pratchett fundamentally changed the way dementia is seen and understood.
"Shouting from the rooftops about the absurdity of how little funding dementia research receives, and fighting for good quality dementia care, he was and will remain the truest of champions for people with the condition."
A Just Giving page donating to the Research Institute to the Care of Older People (RICE) has been set up in his memory.
**** R.I.P. Sir Pratchett
