terminaladj.n.

Brit.

/ˈtəːmᵻnl/, U.S.

/ˈtərmənəl/

Forms: late Middle English termynal, late Middle English termynall, 1500s–1600s terminall, 1600s– terminal.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin terminālis.

Etymology: < classical Latin terminālis marking a boundary, marking a conclusion, final < terminus terminus n. + -ālis -al suffix¹.Compare Middle French, French terminal final (1497 in an isolated attestation, subsequently from the early 20th cent.), (of a god) presiding over a boundary or boundaries (1604), situated at or forming the end or extremity of something (1763), Italian terminale (a1292), Spanish terminal (1508), all adjectives. In sense A. 6 after term n. 13. In sense B. 1 after classical Latin Terminālia (neuter plural noun), the name of an ancient Roman festival held annually in honour of the god Terminus (see Terminalia n.¹); compare saturnal n. 1.

A. adj.

a. Occurring at the end (in time or serial order); forming the last member of a series or succession; closing, final, ultimate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [adjective]

finalc1365

endinga1400

finial?a1400

endly1436

conclusional1471

terminalc1475

parting?1570

supreme1570

terminant1589

desinent1608

terminative1613

conclusive1639

graciousa1701

finishing1705

ultimate1755

concluding1795

closing1796

wind-up1843

net1844

conclusory1846

terminational1874

summative1877

wrap-up1968

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > preceding or following in order > [adjective] > last in order

latemostOE

nextOE

aftermostOE

latestOE

lastc1175

outmost1447

terminalc1475

extreme1477

hindmost1526

final1530

lag1552

uttermosta1555

darrein1555

utter1558

lattermost1566

afterward1584

dernier1602

ultime1626

ultimate1728

postreme1814

c1475 ( in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) 26 519 I wylle insiste som what more to thaire laste, mooste termynal, offence.

1685 J. Falconer Cryptomenysis Patefacta i. 10 E is very often a terminal Letter, and y terminates Words, but they are distinguishable.

?1710 Etymol. Lat. Tongue ii. 11 The third Declination hath seventy Terminations made up of the eleven Terminal Letters.

1831 Foreign Q. Rev. 7 378 Alliterative metre is formed without..dependence upon the aid of terminal rhyme.

1877 E. Dowden Shakspere (Macmillan Lit. Primers) iv. 41 These may be found as terminal words in the blank verse of Milton and of Wordsworth.

1910 Times 2 Mar. 4/3 The Council recommend that for the present quarterly capitation tax of ten shillings, a terminal payment of forty-two shillings be substituted.

1937 Philos. Rev. 46 439 Those terminal notes..together outswell the essay.

1969 Financial Times 12 Apr. 14/3 The net assets shown are after providing for terminal tax assessments on the group companies.

2007 T. Rayment Probl. Assessment Art & Design Introd. 14 There is a common pattern of question papers being issued to candidates some weeks in advance of the terminal examination.

b. Medicine.

(a) Designating the final stage of a disease, esp. when terminating in death; occurring during this stage. Also (of a disease): that is in its final stage; fatal; incurable.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > dying

deadlyc893

swelting?a1400

dyingc1450

at (the) utterance1525

in (the, his) extremes1551

parting1562

Acherontic1597

ending1600

departing1603

on one's last legs1614

expiring1635

mortifying1649

morient1679

upon one's last stretch1680

gasping1681

à la mort1700

moribund1721

outward-bound1809

terminal1854

on the brink of the grave1872

defunctive1929

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [adjective] > terminal

terminative1675

terminal1854

the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [adjective] > hospital > type of ward

acute-care1803

terminal1854

secure1976

1854 Assoc. Med. Jrnl. 14 Apr. 335/1 It is impossible to distinguish between the stools of the premonitory and terminal stages of cholera.

1872 Lancet 13 Apr. 523/2 Thickness of speech and paresis of the upper limbs, which, in Dr. Pollard's case, were initial phenomena, are terminal in ataxy.

1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 422 In the moribund a ‘terminal’ leucocytosis is frequently observed.

1905 Lepra 5 292/2 Disease had progressed, and the stage was terminal.

1910 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. May 729 Terminal case [of leprosy] of the tubercular type.

1976 Church Times 23 July 11/1 I now have several progressive illnesses; one is terminal.

2014 New Yorker 11 Aug. 6/3 Our three-month-old child was given a diagnosis of terminal spinal muscular atrophy.

(b) Of an individual: affected with a terminal disease or the terminal stage of a disease; close to death, moribund.

ΚΠ

1912 Charity Service Rep. (Cook County, Illinois) 108 In January, 1912, all of the tuberculosis cases who were able to be up and around were transferred,..leaving in this institution only the cases known as ‘Terminal Cases’.

1941 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 18 Jan. 218/1 It is our practice, in dealing with the terminal patient, to give a narcotic in its minimal clinically effective analgesic dose.

1985 Glasgow Herald 5 Oct. 7/6 We would not now care to guess how many terminal begonias have been brought back to life with a pint of the stuff poured into their roots.

2009 M. Malone Four Corners Sky (2010) xv. 127 The receptionist conceded cheerfully that most of their patients were ‘pretty terminal’.

(c) Designating an institution or hospital ward caring for individuals in the terminal stage of a disease; designating care of this type.

ΚΠ

1913 Evening Rev. (E. Liverpool, Ohio) 8 Sept. 3/3 The end of all this classification is the terminal ward. In that are the filthy cases, which are absolutely incurable.

1928 Survey (N.Y.) 15 Oct. 79/1 Even the free or moderately priced services which the Good Samaritan Hospital offers to women were sought only for relatively short periods of terminal care.

1961 Lancet 2 Sept. 548/2 Excellent care of these patients has been carried out not only at St. Joseph's but also in other terminal homes and hospitals.

1974 N.Y. Times 16 June iv. 7/2 On terminal care, 82 per cent [of doctors] would practice a form of passive euthanasia on members of their family, 86 per cent on themselves.

1990 D. Walcott Omeros xxxvi. 183 Behind me, reverential mourners whispered like people in banks or terminal wards.

2014 M. Lipscomb Hospice in Change iv. 83 While terminal care can be complex, proximity to death does not in itself automatically signal the presence of complex needs.

c. figurative and in extended use: irreversible, irreparable; extremely severe; calamitous, disastrous.Often in terminal case, esp. with reference to something regarded metaphorically as a disease. Cf. quots. 1910 at sense A. 1b(a), 1912 at sense A. 1b(b).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [adjective] > harmful or injurious > very

balefulOE

wanlichc1275

grievous1340

malignc1350

maliciousa1398

venom1538

virulent1563

malignant1564

blasting1591

fatal1681

blighting1796

terminal1952

1952 W. Plomer Museum Pieces xiv. 125 A man who feels that there is something terminal about his own existence may easily envisage the world as failing with him.

1961 N.Y. Times Mag. 5 Nov. 125/2 Simultaneous frustration in both places [sc. the United States and the Soviet Union] could be the fatal condition that would make a terminal case of civilization.

1973 Black Panther 11 Aug. 8/2 The country was plunged into shock and the President faced a terminal crisis.

1981 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 2/1 Another contest for Labour's deputy leadership next year could prove ‘terminal’ for the party, Mr Neil Kinnock..said.

1987 B. Parcells & M. Lupica Parcells i. 2 Just when I thought I had a terminal case of assistantitis, I became head coach at Air Force.

1996 Big Issue 15 July 12/1 The business went into what many thought was terminal decline.

2015 Farm Weekly (Nexis) 24 Dec. 10 A lifetime of sameness would be a recipe for terminal boredom.

†2. Heraldry. Of a coat of arms: marked by a distinctive border reserved for the younger brothers of the head of the family. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > [adjective] > bordure

terminal1486

bordured1610

1486 Coote Armuris sig. bi^v, in Bk. St. Albans Ther be .ix. dyuisionis of cotarmures .v. perfite & .iiii. vnperfite. The .v. perfite be theys Termynall Collaterall Abstrakte Fixall and Bastard.

1486 Coote Armuris sig. bi^v, in Bk. St. Albans Termynall is calde in armys all the bretheren of right lyne hethir by fadre or by modre may bere the right heyris cotarmure with a differens calde Enbordyng.

1586 J. Ferne Blazon of Gentrie 254 The firste coate-armour perfect, was called abstract: and that was the coat of the heyre... The second, was called Terminall. This was a coat of difference, and did belong to all the younger brethren of the right line. These did beare the right heyres coat, (which was their elder brother) with differences of Enbording.

1632 Guillim's Display of Heraldrie (ed. 2) i. v. 31 How they then were disposed of, in the Terminall, Collaterall and Fixall Coat-Armours, I refer you to Sir John Ferne and others, who have writ plentifully of them.

1680 G. Mackenzie Sci. Herauldry 72 Arms were divided into perfect, and abated Arms. Perfect were call'd abstract: But Arms fixal, and terminal were these of Cadets.

3. Belonging to or lasting for a term or definite period; esp. relating to a university or law term; occurring every term or for the duration of a term; termly. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > frequency > [adjective] > periodical or recurring at regular intervals

continualc1530

periodical1585

termly1594

clock-like1609

terminal1610

stated1611

regular1639

periodic1661

clockwork1679

recursive1766

clockwork-like1875

tidal1876

seasonal1880

society > education > educational administration > [adjective] > session or term

terminal1610

winterim1964

sessional1965

1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia iii. ii. 68 Terminall Right is either an Estate for life, as the Dowagers, Grauntees for life; &c. Or for Yeares, as by Lease, Mortgage, &c.

1656 P. King Surfeit to ABC 25 If I were a publique professor with an annual and life terminal pension, I could chop and change many readings.

1790 Let. to V. Knox 18 The inforcement of full Terminal Residence, which has already taken place in many Colleges.

1846 Athenaeum 19 Sept. 972/2 Deficiency is early discovered by failure at terminal examinations.

1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. II. xv. 260 This council sitting in terminal courts assisted the king in hearing suits.

1885 Law Times 80 5/1 A set of rooms in college..at a yearly rent payable by three terminal payments.

1922 Burnley Express & Advertiser 25 Nov. 11/1 Lomeshaye House School, Nelson... Day, Weekly, and Terminal Boarders are arranged for.

1935 Surrey Mirror & County Post 31 May 17/5 The terminal meeting of the Dorking (Petty Sessional) Divisional Sub-Committee of the Surrey Education Department..was the last meeting of that body under its old constitution.

a. Located at or forming the end or extremity of something. Cf. term n. 9a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > end or extremity > [adjective]

desinent1608

terminal1650

terminatory1675

distal1882

1650 tr. Nicholas of Cusa Idiot iii. 121 I thinke a terminal point [L. punctum terminalem] indivisible.

1769 J. Berkenhout Outl. Nat. Hist. Great Brit. & Ireland I. 174 Antennæ, proceeding from the Trunk, of 5 globules, and a filiform terminal joint.

1878 F. J. Bell & E. R. Lankester tr. C. Gegenbaur Elements Compar. Anat. 435 The ‘plough-shaped bone’ forms the terminal portion of the vertebral column.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 239/1 What are termed ‘Heberden's nodes’ are small hard knobs about the size of a pea frequently found upon the fingers near the terminal phalangeal joints.

1968 B. Kurtén Pleistocene Mammals Europe xiii. 161 The acoronate (or ‘crownless’) deer differs from typical European stags in that the terminal part of the antler carries a simple fork.

2013 New Scientist 21 Dec. 43/1 Viruses from hot acidic environments often have virions with highly unusual shapes:..long filaments with nanoscale terminal claws.

b. Botany. Located at the growing end of a stem, branch, or other part. Contrasted with lateral and axillary.

ΚΠ

?1765 G. Fordyce Elements Agric. iii. 52 Grasses and other Plants having terminal Flowers.

1827 H. Steuart Planter's Guide (1828) 448 Plantations..pruned..by the removal of Terminal Shoots, and Terminal Buds.

?1877 F. E. Hulme Familiar Wild Flowers I. Summary p. vi Inflorescence terminal and axillary.

a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1419 When the terminal bud of some tropical trees is cut off there is a flow of sweet sap, which is used to make palm wine.

1986 J. A. Samson Trop. Fruits (ed. 2) ix. 246 The scions are cut from terminal growth of registered trees with plump buds.

2013 Jrnl. Tribune (York County, Maine) 5 Mar. a4 The terminal bud isn't always necessarily the largest, but it represents the end point for the leaf production on any given branch.

c. Crystallography. Designating any face, edge, or angle of a crystal through which the principal axis passes. In early use also: †designating any edge or angle of a face of this kind (obsolete).

ΚΠ

1798 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 88 440 There are instances of crystals of Corundum, belonging to the variety where the terminal planes make, with the planes of the pyramid, a solid angle of about 100°.

1805 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals 36 Terminal edges are formed by the junction of a lateral and terminal plane.

1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 71 The square prism has all its terminal edges similar, and all its terminal angles also similar.

1848 tr. M. V. Regnault Elem. Treat. Crystallogr. 30 The principal axis connects the two terminal angles.., whilst the secondary axes connect the centres of the opposite lateral edges.

1953 W. W. Brannock et al. Contrib. Geochemistry 1949 87 By properly revolving the crystal and adjusting the lights for each face, all the terminal faces can be photographed successively.

2005 I. Sunagawa Crystals iv. 74 With increasing impurity content, the terminal faces (i.e the faces appearing on the tips of prismatic or needle crystals) of prismatic SnO₂ and TiO₂ crystals change from flat..to rounded faces.

d. Situated at the end of a railway line or other transport route; designating a railway or other transport terminal.Cf. sense B. 4a and Compounds 2a.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [adjective] > situated at or relating to end of line

terminal1837

society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > [adjective] > at end of railway line

terminal1837

1837 F. Whishaw Anal. Railways Gloss. On a descent from the depôt or terminal station.

1869 Bradshaw's Railway Man. 21 87 This line..terminates in the city, at a great terminal station in Liverpool Street.

1907 Daily Chron. 10 Sept. 4/6 The Canadian Pacific Railway Company selected the spot for their western terminal port on the shores of the Pacific.

1965 Times 27 May 6/5 B.U.A. is..also asking the board to vary its London-Barcelona service licence to permit Gerona to be included on the route as an optional stop and alternative terminal stop.

2015 Times of India 22 Dec. To develop Santragachi into a terminal station, the Railway Board sanctioned nearly Rs 350 crore.

e. Designating a telegraph pole at which a line ends or one to which individual homes and businesses are directly connected. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1859 Morning Post 30 Sept. 5/3 The terminal pole, connecting the cable with the land wires, was erected with the necessary fittings ready to join the Neapolitan systems of telegraphs.

1885 Telegr. Jrnl. & Electr. Rev. 13 June 533/2 Sketch and describe a terminal telegraph pole, showing how the ‘leading in’ wires are brought into the office from it.

1939 Princ. Electr. Telephone & Telegr. Work (Amer. Telephone & Telegr. Co.) xxii. 196/1 The wires are connected to cable conductors extending from the terminal pole to the toll central office.

1963 Salina (Kansas) Jrnl. 5 July 10/2 Other cables will feed out from the main cable to telephone pole terminals. Individual phones are connected to the terminal poles.

a. Placed or used as a landmark at the boundary of a region. Also: designating a god thought to preside over a boundary or boundaries (cf. terminus n. 3).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [adjective]

finitivec1550

limitaneous1640

terminal1652

limitary1731

limital1847

1652 F. Whyte For Sacred Law of Land Pref. 12 Those who removed the Terminall stones, or boundary markes were punishable by the Civill Law.

1744 J. Paterson Compl. Comm. Paradise Lost 218 The emblem of his being the terminal god, defending the borders of that nation.

1769 Middlesex Jrnl. 27 Apr. The boundaries of that abbey were said to be marked by certain stones, or small obelisks... After he had dug to the foundation of this terminal column, he was overjoyed to find a small earthen urn.

1828 T. Allen Hist. & Antiq. London III. 179 The font is a circular basin of marble, on a stone terminal pillar.

1847 G. Grote Hist. Greece III. ii. xvi. 283 A terminal pillar set up by Crœsus at Kydrara.

1896 Amer. Jrnl. Archaeol. & Hist. Fine Arts 11 559 A terminal stone marking the boundaries of public lands.

1930 G. K. Chesterton Four Faultless Felons 50 That motionless head might indeed have been that of some terminal god of gardens.

1977 Undercurrents June 24/1 Tumuli, beacons, moated castles,..carefully surveyed to link up two terminal points on the tops of the hills.

1991 L. Keppie Understanding Roman Inscriptions viii. 59/2 The corners of the square plots..were marked by terminal stones.

b. Designating a statue, bust, or other figure representing the upper part of the body (sometimes without the arms), and terminating below in a pillar or pedestal out of which it appears to emerge, originally used as a boundary marker in ancient Rome. Cf. term n. 15, terminus n. 3b.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [adjective] > bust

terminal1747

bust-like1797

1747 J. Spence Polymetis viii. 109 The statues that relate to this Mercury are of that aukward terminal figure, which was so much in fashion..in all the best ages of antiquity.

1800 J. Salmon Hist. Descr. Anc. & Mod. Rome II. App. 326 Near the left door, is a terminal statue of a Woman..with a basso-relievo on the base.

1858 N. Hawthorne French & Ital. Note-bks. I. 177 Great urns and vases, terminal figures, temples.

1908 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 28 13 (caption) Double terminal bust of Dionysus and Alexander of Hermes.

1964 S. Sitwell Great Palaces of Europe 128 A yet stranger and more powerful impact is made by the firmly-rooted terminal statues grouped in a semi-circle to announce the lowest of the fountains.

1999 A. Burnett in G. M. Paul Rom. Coins & Public Life Under Empire viii. 139 Examples might be the terminal statue of Mercury on Roman Republican coins..or the archaic statue of Diana Nemorensis.

6. Philosophy and Logic. Relating to a term (term n. 13) as an element of a proposition.Frequently contrasted with propositional (propositional adj. 1).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > term of a proposition > [adjective]

terminal1855

1855 R. G. Latham Eng. Lang. (ed. 4) II. 420 A conjunction is a part of speech which connects either terms or propositions... The terminal conjunctions, as they may be called, are rarer than the propositional.

1858 A. De Morgan On Syllogism in Trans. Cambr. Philos. Soc. (1864) x. 194 Logic has always recognised two kinds of some; that of terminal ambiguity, some-it-may-be-all; and that of terminal precision, some-not-all, the some of common life.

1891 Cent. Dict. Terminal quantity, the quantity of a term, as universal or particular.

1955 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 20 208 ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, and ‘5’ are proposition-forming functors of two terminal arguments.

2015 G. Englebretsen Exploring Topics in Hist. & Philos. of Logic iii. 48 This naturally raised the question of which interpretation (terminal or propositional) was primary.

B. n.

†1. In plural. The Terminalia, an ancient Roman festival held annually in honour of the god Terminus: see terminus n. 3. Cf. saturnal n. 1. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > [noun] > day or season of

high tideOE

high dayOE

feast dayc1300

ferie1377

festival day1389

feastful day1440

festivala1500

gaudy-day1567

carnival1598

utas1600

saturnal1605

Saturnalia1639

terminals1656

days of gala1716

fête dayc1759

mirth-day1778

season1791

festa1800

jour de fête1806

fiesta1844

fest1846

Winterval1982

1656 T. Blount Glossographia Terminals (terminalia), feasts..kept in February at the eighth calends of March.

2. One or more syllables or words coming at the end of a word, phrase, line, or other linguistic unit; = termination n. 6.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > [noun] > syllabic sound > syllable > last syllable

terminant1589

terminal1831

ultima1913

the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [noun] > surname

nameeOE

surnounc1325

surname1393

overname1574

agnomination1590

family name1646

last name1695

terminal1866

1831 Westm. Rev. Jan. 61 The derivation of one word from another.., or rather the different states in which a root presents itself with terminals added.

1866 Sat. Rev. 21 Apr. 474 Madlle. Orgeni (German in spite of her patronymic terminal) comes directly from Berlin.

1888 Young Folks Paper 24 Mar. 189/1 The objection to ‘nooks’ as a rhyming terminal..is that it can hardly occur without ‘brooks’ to follow.

1904 Athenæum 21 May 646/2 Mr. Coleridge transposes the rhyming terminals ‘healthy’ and ‘wealthy’.

1972 K. C. Jain Malwa through Ages xiv. 465 [An] inscription containing the letters of the alphabet and the Sanskrit conjugational terminals has been recovered.

1990 Internat. Rev. Appl. Linguistics 28 122 Chinese listeners were able to identify the French rising and falling terminals.

3. A part or structure situated at or forming the end, or an end, of something.

a. Any of the points in an electrical circuit or device at which an electrical connection may be made; a part of a device or circuit forming such a point, esp. the electrical contacts of a battery.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > [noun] > incomplete circuit > free end of

terminal1838

1838 W. Sturgeon in Ann. Electr., Magnetism, & Chem. 2 11 That [part] which is connected with the positive pole of the exciting apparatus..may very conveniently be called the ‘salient terminal metal’, or occasionally the ‘salient terminal’ only.

1869 M. Somerville Molecular & Miscrosc. Sci. I. i. ii. 52 When the copper conducting wires are fitted with charcoal terminals and brought near to one another, the dazzling lights combine in one blaze.

1935 Pop. Mech. Mar. 476/1 Corroded terminals should be scraped clean to assure good electrical contact.

1986 F. Guillou & C. Gray in A. Limon et al. Home Owner Man. (ed. 2) v. iii. 744 Now imagine a wire connected from the earth terminal of the wiring installation as a whole to this electrode.

2004 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 18 Apr. iii. 22/2 Remove cables and clean the connectors and battery terminals with a terminal brush.

b. Anatomy and Physiology. A specialized structure at the end of a nerve fibre; a nerve ending; (in later use) spec. one at which synaptic transmission occurs. Cf. terminal button n. (a) at Compounds 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > nerve fibre > end of

terminal1858

1858 H. W. Lobb On More Obscure Forms Nerv. Affections 77 It is only the peripheric termination of the nerve that is acutely sensitive, the nerve itself being but very partially so; and even when sensitive, referring the sensation to its terminal.

1866 A. C. Garratt Med. Electr. (ed. 3) iii. 126 For Hearing, the nerve terminals are much like those of the tongue.

1910 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Mar. 618/1 When from without we attempt to manipulate a part, we are bound, in the first place, to influence the terminals of the sensory nerves of the cerebro-spinal nerve system.

1942 Physiol. Rev. 22 155 Monosynaptic systems, that is, neurons receiving only one synaptic terminal.

1984 H. J. Granger et al. in N. A. Mortillaro Physiol. & Pharmacol. of Microcirculation II. vii. 239 The distribution of adrenergic terminals in the primates is similar to that found in the dog and cat.

2014 Times (Nexis) 15 Sept. 54 Julia realised that peptides existed in the nerve terminals in organs such as the heart.

c. Originally: any of various devices used to enter data and commands into a computer or to view its output. In later use: a device used to enter data and commands remotely into a central computer or computer system and to display its output, typically consisting of a keyboard or other input device and a video display.Although some terminals are themselves capable of processing data, many have very limited functionality beyond that necessary to allow the user to interact with a computer system.

ΘΚΠ

society > computing and information technology > network > [noun] > workstation

data terminal1958

terminal1958

satellite1961

workstation1972

1958 Oxf. Mag. 29 May 470/1 The ‘terminal’ equipment, consisting of punched paper tape and a teleprinter, is relatively slow.

1965 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery 12 350 (heading) On a problem concerning a central storage device served by multiple terminals.

1979 Computers in Shell (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co.) (recto rear cover) Types of terminals include card readers, printers, video screens and teletypes.

1990 Internat. Managem. Mar. 62/3 Simply by inserting your credit card into a terminal before your flight leaves, you can check your reservation.

2003 N. Erlick GermLine v. 180 Now, she could access Delphi autopsy files, under his name—unless they monitored such intrusions, or traced it back to her terminal.

(a) A station at the end of a railway line; a building or other facility at the end point of a route used by buses, shipping, etc.; a terminus; (also) (chiefly U.S.) a place or town which has such a terminus. More generally: a major station.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > [noun] > terminus for train

terminus1825

terminal1844

end of steel1909

society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > [noun] > travel by bus > terminus for buses

station1832

terminal1844

bus station1871

bus depot1879

bus terminal1911

1844 Act 7 & 8 Victoria c. 85 §6 All Passenger Railway Companies..shall..provide for the Conveyance of Third Class Passengers to and from the terminal.

1888 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 7 Aug. 3/2 The Canadian Pacific..company has purchased extensive dock property and terminals at Windsor, opposite Detroit.

1900 Jrnl. School Geogr. (U.S.) Apr. 135 The seaboard terminal is New York, with its three million of people.

1937 New Statesman 25 Dec. 1094/1 A rail-cum-steamer terminal on the Firth of Clyde.

1943 National Geographic Mag. Dec. 672/1 Beneath the towers of the city the bus terminals are packed with travelers.

1981 M. Moorcock Byzantium Endures ii. 50 Glavnaya Station, the main terminal of Odessa situated in the heart of the city.

2013 Observer 1 Sept. 30/2 The ministry of tourism has allocated £7.5m for tourism projects, including a golf course, helicopter tours and a cruise ship terminal.

(b) spec. A building at an airport where passengers transfer baggage and pass through security and customs when boarding or disembarking from a plane.

ΚΠ

1921 Flight 16 June 401 (caption) Two London–Paris terminals.—The lower photograph shows Cricklewood aerodrome..the upper picture shows the Paris air port.

1958 Times 1 Mar. 7/4 Each city or town would adopt the type of terminal [for helicopters] best suited to its own locality.

1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose vi. 270 Walking from the hostel to the terminal [of an airline].

1980 R. McCrum In Secret State xiii. 122 Quitman took the Piccadilly line to Heathrow... Soon he was standing on the travolator, riding up towards Terminal Three.

2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 June c10/6 The project will also probably use an island-style arrangement instead of a wall of counters in the terminal to accommodate bulky new baggage screening machines.

b. A charge made by a railway company for the use of a terminus or other station, and for services rendered in loading or unloading goods. Usually in plural. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > [noun] > carriage of goods, etc. > in wheeled vehicle > by rail > types of

mileage1837

terminal1867

commodity rate1883

traffic1887

1867 Royal Comm. Railways: Minutes of Evid. 1865–6 448/1 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 3844-I) XXXVIII. 127 No terminal should be charged except at each end of the route, the mileage rate being considered compensatory to the various lines over which the goods travel.

1878 F. S. Williams Midland Railway (ed. 4) 188 There was a sum of £5000 or £6000 for ‘terminals’.

1887 Contemp. Rev. Jan. 82 The cost of collection, loading, covering, unloading, and delivering,..are the chief items included under the denomination of ‘terminals’.

1905 Dept. Commerce & Labor Bureau Census: Bull. No. 21. 50/1 All purely gross revenue methods in handling terminals must be extremely arbitrary.

1960 All India Reporter: Allahabad 441/2 Unlike the charge for haulage, or terminals, it is not a charge which every trader is compelled to pay.

c. An installation where oil or gas is stored, typically located at the end of a pipeline or at a port of call for tankers.Recorded earliest in oil terminal n. at oil n.¹ Compounds 4a(c).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > workplace > places for working with specific materials > place for working with oil or gas > [noun] > for collection or storage

terminal1886

tank farm1932

spar1973

1886 Harper's Mag. Jan. 252/1 Great complaints were made that all the oil terminal facilities of railways..were owned or leased by the Standard interests.

1914 Fuel Oil Jrnl. Jan. 24/1 The storage tanks, docks and export orders..will be used as the American seaboard terminal.

1940 Life 1 July 59 Rieber had to..handle oil with one gang of men while he built the terminal with another.

1976 M. Machlin Pipeline vi. 70 The 707 could then descend to a relatively low level and follow the route of the pipeline to its terminal.

2011 A. C. Inkpen & M. H. Moffett Global Oil & Gas Industry xi. 410 The north section..runs from the Nyhamna terminal to the Sleipner platform.

5. A carving, engraving, or other decoration placed at the end or edge of an object (as a tool, an item of furniture, etc.). Cf. finial n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > end or extremity > [noun]

endc825

headOE

finea1300

nolla1387

extremityc1400

hinder end?1523

extreme1570

termininea1593

exit1615

outmost1634

terminus1704

knobhead1793

terminal1865

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > sculpture or carving > [noun] > a sculpture or carving > group or spec. subject

antic1532

Our Lady Piety1533

drapery1552

antiquary1573

urn1653

story1657

Pietàc1660

gigantomachy1820

set piece1846

terminal1865

wheatear1882

protome1886

protoma1894

koruru1897

blemya1915

Lincoln imp1926

1865 Morning Star 27 Feb. Seats..panelled with oak, the elbow rails having carved terminals.

1904 B. C. A. Windle Remains Prehist. Age Eng. 100 Chapes or terminals to scabbards which may have belonged to daggers or to swords.

1960 R. E. Oakeshott Archaeol. Weapons i. iii. 58 All the decoration is put on the strap loop, which is now centrally placed with its ornamental terminals at top and bottom of the scabbard.

1993 Britannia 24 104 A tall stemmed beaker..with the zoomorphic terminals which commonly appear.

2000 Western Morning News 22 July 2 On either side of this [sc. a seat] are the upholstered arms with lion mask carved terminals.

6. A terminal figure or statue, or the pedestal supporting this; = term n. 15. See sense A. 5b.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [noun] > statue > bust or torso

block1535

term1604

busto1626

torse1634

terminus1638

busty1684

bust1691

shoulder-piece1692

protome1737

torso1797

portrait bust1827

terminal1876

term figure1880

1876 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) Gloss. 1332 Term or Terminal, a sort of trunk, pillar, or pedestal.

1876 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) Gloss. 1337 at Vagina The lower part of a terminal in which a statue is apparently inserted.

1947 O. Percival Children's Garden Bk. (2005) 46 Usually, terminals are of the old garden gods or other deities of the Greeks and Romans.

2009 P. Craddock Sci. Investig. Copies, Fakes & Forgeries iv. 74/2 (caption) Details of the incomplete terminal bust..showing holes drilled to act as guides to the carving. They were laid out with plumb-bob and line, enabling a whole series of almost identical terminals to have been produced for architectural purposes.

7. A person affected with a terminal illness.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > sick person > [noun] > terminal

terminal1960

1960 J. G. Ballard in New Worlds Oct. 95 The terminals sleeping in the adjacent dormitory block attracted hordes of would-be sightseers.

1976 Church Times 23 July 11/2 Mr. Rice recently paid a third visit to the nun—who is bedridden and a terminal—and questioned her again, mainly about prayer and intercession.

2001 B. McNamara Fragile Lives ii. 24 These patients are the ‘silent terminals’—discussion about death is avoided and the patients and families use silence as a coping mechanism.

Compounds

C1. Compounds of the adjective.

terminal ballistics n. the branch of ballistics which deals with the behaviour of a projectile upon impact; (also) the ballistic properties of a projectile or the material from which it is constructed at the point of impact.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > missile discharged from weapon > science of > specific branch

exterior ballistics1880

interior ballistics1880

terminal ballistics1907

1907 Jrnl. U.S. Artillery 28 69 Special apparatus belonging to another kind of ballistics, terminal ballistics.

1947 L. E. Simon German Research World War II vii. 109 Terminal ballistics is concerned with the motion of the projectile, its fragments, and gases in the neighbourhood of the target.

1971 Jrnl. Criminal Law, Criminol., & Police Sci. 62 453/2 The casts of the cavities formed in the clay by the bullets provide a standard for comparison of the terminal ballistics of the different bullets.

2006 West Austral. (Perth) (Nexis) 11 July 5 A specialist in terminal ballistics proves conclusively..that 15-year-old Footscray boy Duc Tran was deliberately shot by his stepfather.

terminal bonus n. a financial bonus given at the end of a particular period; spec. an additional amount of money added to a payment made on the maturity of an insurance policy or on the death of an insured person.

ΚΠ

1919 Times of India 22 Aug. 3/5 An initial bonus of Rs. 50 on joining appointment at Poona and a terminal bonus of Rs. 50 on completion of six months' satisfactory service.

1967 Guardian 4 Jan. 11/4 The new system of terminal bonuses has been introduced so that the normal profits of life assurance business can be supplemented by the results of successful investment.

2004 A. Vice 7 Ways to beat Pension Crisis vii. 114 Something of a question overhangs the terminal bonus, which is paid when the policy matures.

terminal button n. Biology (a) an enlarged area at the end of a structure; spec. a knob-shaped ending of an axon (cf. bouton n. Additions 3); (b) the small terminal segment of the rattle of a rattlesnake. [In sense (a) after French bouton terminal small swelling or enlarged region at the end of a structure (1843 in the passage translated in quot. 1849), bulb-shaped end of a nerve fibre or cell (R. Wagner 1853, in Ann. des Sci. Nat. (Zool.) 19 373).]

ΚΠ

1849 J. H. Wilson tr. A. de Jussieu Elements Bot. 217 It is in this cell that the poison is formed; and when it buries itself in the skin, it breaks and leaves its end there, which is retained by the small terminal button [Fr. le petit bouton terminal].

1854 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. 27 200 To these [nervous] fibrils are attached either the elements of the tissues, or..ganglionic (nervous) cells, forming as it were ‘terminal buttons’.

1891 Timehri 5 4 Occasionally true rattlesnakes are observed in which there is no rattle developed, the many-pieced appendage being represented only by a terminal button.

1904 Sci. Amer. 9 Jan. 31/3 The snail has a good sense of smell, and the [nasal] organ is seated in the terminal button at the end of the large feelers.

1947 G. Pickwell Amphibians & Reptiles Pacific States 87 The older Snake may lose the terminal button of the rattle as well as a number of rings, so that it is no longer possible to determine the total number of rattles which had been produced.

2008 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 92/1 The neurons are made up of parts like axons and dendrites, which are made up of smaller parts like terminal buttons and receptor sites, which are made up of molecules, and so on.

terminal degree n. North American Education the highest degree achievable in a given academic or professional discipline.

ΘΚΠ

society > education > educational administration > university administration > taking degree or graduation > [noun] > a degree > types of

first degree1530

honorary degreea1661

poll degree1834

poll1843

honours degree1851

summa cum laude1856

pass degree1865

terminal degree1904

Hons. degree1913

cum laude1927

summa1968

1904 Science 27 May 820 This terminal degree—perhaps we may call it master's degree—must be specialized.

1967 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 June 519/2 (advt.) Ph.D. or terminal degree in one of visual, performing, or architectural arts desired.

2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 23 Apr. (Educ. Life section) 40/1 At that time..I needed only a master's degree to teach. Now..most theater departments require a ‘terminal’ degree (Ph.D. or M.F.A.).

terminal guidance n. the guidance of a missile, spacecraft, etc., which takes place as it nears its target, during the final phase of its journey.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > [noun] > aim or aiming > guidance

terminal guidance1949

1949 Jrnl. Amer. Rocket Soc. Sept. 139 The V-2 flies a ballistic trajectory, does not maneuver, and has no midcourse or terminal guidance.

1950 Jrnl. Inst. Navigation 3 141 Whether such a weapon could be considered for any future war will depend..on the possibilities of navigation and terminal guidance.

1979 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 127 555/1 Long-range, sea-skimming missiles with terminal guidance.

1990 Human Explor. of Space (National Res. Council) iv. 25 Present knowledge of lunar and Martian surface features is adequate for lander modules, provided that high-resolution imagery is incorporated for terminal guidance.

2014 Aviation Week & Space Technol. (Nexis) 27 Oct. An imaging infrared seeker provides terminal guidance.

terminal juncture n. Linguistics a juncture (juncture n. 2c) that occurs at the end of a syntactic unit.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > [noun] > transition between sounds > types of

open juncture1941

plus juncture1951

terminal juncture1951

1951 G. L. Trager & H. L. Smith Outl. Eng. Struct. ii. 56 Suprasegmental morphemes consisting of patterns of stress, with the possibility of including plus junctures, are called superfixes. Those consisting of pitches and a terminal juncture are called intonation patterns.

1975 Language 51 57 The final element, hacer, accompanied by terminal juncture, is associated with zero following elements.

2003 C. J. Pountain Exploring Spanish Lang. iv. 80 Polar questions..are often signalled by nothing more than a rising terminal juncture in speech.

terminal moraine n. Geology a moraine marking the furthest limit of advance of a glacier or ice sheet (cf. lateral moraine n. at lateral adj. and n. Compounds).

ΚΠ

1840 London & Edinb. Philos. Mag. 16 348 I have seen no kind of deposit now in progress precisely similar in character to the till, except one, namely, the terminal moraines of glaciers.

1971 J. Blish Star Trek 4 9 He also knew, geologically, where they were; in a terminal moraine, the rock-tumble pushed ahead of itself by an advancing glacier.

2010 A. Goudie & H. Viles Landscapes & Geomorphol. ii. 17 Once a glacier starts to retreat, it loses the energy to carry this debris and deposits it as what geomorphologists call a ‘terminal moraine’.

terminal nosedive n. Aeronautics (rare) a nosedive during which an aircraft reaches terminal velocity.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [noun] > sudden rapid descent

volplane1910

nosedive1912

dive1914

terminal nosedive1920

power dive1928

1920 Sci. Abstr. B. 23 288 Tables are given for the load factors for each class of machine..in terminal nose dive.

1933 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) 9 Terminal nose-dive, a dive at terminal velocity.

terminal string n. Linguistics a string (string n. 15c) consisting wholly of terminal symbols.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic relations > [noun] > change of word order or position > specifically in transformational grammar > terminal symbol or string

terminal symbol1962

terminal string1967

1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics vi. 118 A terminal string is composed of a certain number, say n, of terminal symbols.

1975 N. Chomsky Logical Struct. Ling. Theory (rev. ed.) vii. 174 The mapping in question may rearrange the order of elements of terminal strings and may specify their morphemic shape in various ways.

2010 Computer Music Jrnl. 34 61 The terminal string derived from the grammar is an abstract melody, created by chaining together a representative abstract melody in each cluster.

terminal symbol n. Linguistics a symbol that denotes a lexical class and cannot be further rewritten.

ΘΚΠ

terminal symbol1962

terminal string1967

1962 E. Bach in Language 38 263 A fixed order of two or more constituents may result directly from the form of a rule: a → b + c, where b and c are either terminal symbols or lead to terminal symbols without rearrangement.

1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics vi. 119 In terms of dependency theory, let the level of a structure be one greater than the number of links from its origin to the terminal symbol furthest removed.

2006 Linguistics & Philos. 29 384 The CCG [sc. Combinatory Categorical Grammar] lexicon assigns each terminal symbol (that is, each word in the case of natural language) a finite set of categories.

terminal velocity n. the constant velocity that a falling object will eventually attain as the resistance of the medium through which it is falling increases to equal the accelerating force acting on the object, preventing further acceleration; (also occasionally) the maximum velocity a device or machine can achieve.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > rate of motion > [noun] > in the physical sciences > at which air resistance equals weight of body

terminal velocity1749

1749 F. Holliday Miscellanea Curiosa Mathematica II. 88 The altitude..from which a body sollicited by a constant force g in a non-resisting medium would fall to acquire the terminal velocity.

1829 Aurora & Pennsylvania Gaz. 21 Dec. 2/2 In many cases the engine perhaps had not acquired its maximum or terminal velocity when the stop took place.

1832 C. Babbage Econ. Machinery & Manuf. (ed. 2) vii. 50 Bodies, in falling through a resisting medium, after a certain time acquire a uniform velocity, which is called their terminal velocity, with which they continue to descend.

1914 Aeronaut. Jrnl. 18 50 He had dived, and had reached a speed so high that he thought it wise to straighten out without waiting to reach the terminal velocity.

2015 North Shore (Austral.) Times (Nexis) 24 July 8 In a belly-to-earth position skydivers reach terminal velocity at 190km/h.

C2. Compounds of the noun.

a. attributive in sense B. 4a, as terminal facilities, terminal gate, terminal staff, etc.Recorded earliest in terminal building n. at Compounds 2b.In early use sometimes difficult to distinguish from adjectival use (cf. sense A. 4d).

ΚΠ

1852 Magnet 5 Jan. 6/4 The stone work of the hotel which..is being erected by the company in connection with the terminal building, is in a forward state.

1855 County Courts Chron. 1 Aug. 146/2 Under the term ‘terminal services’ is included the labour of arranging the trucks of different proprietors at the commencement of the journey.

1886 J. Shehyn Railways & Waterways 46 If we are about securing a through traffic, we must with all possible despatch offer..terminal facilities for the handling of a large trade.

1926 Washington Post 19 Nov. 5/5 Accompanying her on the train were a brother and a nurse. She was pronounced dead by Dr. Harnsberger of the terminal staff.

1989 Premiere Dec. 96/1 Special limousines were hired by the company to chauffeur him from one terminal gate to the next at every airport on his itinerary.

1993 Canada Moves Feb. Ins. front cover (advt.) We're investing heavily in terminal expansion..to improve cross-border movement of double-stack trains.

2005 Cheshire Life Aug. 113 Changes will be made to taxiways and terminal facilities, to cope with its size and the extra passengers it will bring.

terminal building n. a building at a railway terminal, airport, or port; spec. the main building housing facilities for passengers.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > air or space travel > airfield or airport > [noun] > airport > terminal building

terminal building1852

arrival hall1895

1852 Magnet 5 Jan. 6/4 The stone work of the hotel which..is being erected by the company in connection with the terminal building, is in a forward state.

1888 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 21 Mar. 5/3 There is a certain class of work that can only be done in the terminal buildings such as repairing the heavy locomotive..wheels.

1933 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 37 10 A terminal building will house traffic control and airport administration.

1977 G. Scott Hot Pursuit iv. 38 At the airport..I got out of the terminal building and on to the bus.

2015 Straits Times (Singapore) 5 Aug. During the closure, travellers can expect some delays getting to and from the runway and terminal buildings.

terminal emulation n. Computing (more fully remote terminal emulation) the action or practice of simulating a terminal interface for a computer system, typically by means of a program designed for this purpose; frequently attributive; cf. terminal emulator n.

ΚΠ

1972 D. L. James in Proc. SHARE 38 II. 993 Previous work has been done in the field of remote terminal emulation.

1993 InfoWorld 19 July 52/1 I shamelessly sold terminal emulation software that delighted PC users by faithfully recreating..every ugly detail of the deeply offensive look and feel of 3270 screens from IBM mainframes.

2015 R. Blum & C. Bresnahan Linux Command Line & Shell Scripting Bible (ed. 3) iii. 48 After you start a terminal emulation package or log in to a Linux virtual console, you get access to the shell CLI prompt.

terminal emulator n. Computing (more fully remote terminal emulator) a program or device used to simulate a terminal interface for a computer system, allowing the computer to interact with a mainframe or (in later use) display a command line interface.

ΚΠ

1972 D. L. James in Proc. SHARE 38 II. 993 This slide illustrates the basic real-time characteristics of such remote terminal emulators.

1998 Network World 28 Sept. 82/1 In the beginning, there was the terminal emulator. This client-side emulation technique basically puts a dumb terminal..window on your much more intelligent PC.

2014 M. W. Graves Digital Archaeol. viii. 141 Terminal emulators are programs that operate within the graphical environment of the OS, but provide pure command-line services.

terminal market n. Stock Market a commodity market in a major trading centre, primarily dealing in futures (future n. 6); (hence) the market in futures.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > traffic in stocks and shares > types of market

commodity market1843

primary market1859

short interest1866

bear market1873

aftermarket1887

terminal market1887

Kaffir Circus1889

shop1889

bull market1891

open1898

curb-market1900

the junglea1901

jungle-market1900

short market1900

down market1915

short end1964

third market1964

Unlisted Securities Market1979

USM1979

bulldog market1980

1887 London & China Tel. 28 Nov. 1072/1 In the terminal markets closing quotations are the lowest yet established since the recent rise.

1952 Economist 22 Nov. 567/1 There is little hope of restoration of a terminal market until the domestic allocation of sugar is freed from rationing.

2011 Payments Source (Nexis) 8 Nov. The company's share of the market fell from second to third position in the U.S. this year as change rocked the terminal market.

terminal screw n. a screw that acts as an electrical contact as part of a terminal (sense B. 3a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > wire as conductor > [noun] > means of connection

terminal screw1857

crossover block1892

tag1919

1857 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 13 331 The effect of the whole quantity cannot be transmitted at once, but must partake in some measure of the character of the stream-like discharge from the terminal screws alone.

1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. c4 Aluminum wire is stiffer than copper wire and does not bend as easily when wrapped around small terminal screws on switches and outlets.

2004 J. Bridgewater Home Electrics (2007) v. 124/1 Fit the central conductor under the terminal screw.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	terminal
释义	terminaladj.n. Brit. /ˈtəːmᵻnl/, U.S. /ˈtərmənəl/ Forms: late Middle English termynal, late Middle English termynall, 1500s–1600s terminall, 1600s– terminal. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin terminālis. Etymology: < classical Latin terminālis marking a boundary, marking a conclusion, final < terminus terminus n. + -ālis -al suffix¹.Compare Middle French, French terminal final (1497 in an isolated attestation, subsequently from the early 20th cent.), (of a god) presiding over a boundary or boundaries (1604), situated at or forming the end or extremity of something (1763), Italian terminale (a1292), Spanish terminal (1508), all adjectives. In sense A. 6 after term n. 13. In sense B. 1 after classical Latin Terminālia (neuter plural noun), the name of an ancient Roman festival held annually in honour of the god Terminus (see Terminalia n.¹); compare saturnal n. 1. A. adj. 1. a. Occurring at the end (in time or serial order); forming the last member of a series or succession; closing, final, ultimate. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [adjective] finalc1365 endinga1400 finial?a1400 endly1436 conclusional1471 terminalc1475 parting?1570 supreme1570 terminant1589 desinent1608 terminative1613 conclusive1639 graciousa1701 finishing1705 ultimate1755 concluding1795 closing1796 wind-up1843 net1844 conclusory1846 terminational1874 summative1877 wrap-up1968 the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > preceding or following in order > [adjective] > last in order latemostOE nextOE aftermostOE latestOE lastc1175 outmost1447 terminalc1475 extreme1477 hindmost1526 final1530 lag1552 uttermosta1555 darrein1555 utter1558 lattermost1566 afterward1584 dernier1602 ultime1626 ultimate1728 postreme1814 c1475 ( in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) 26 519 I wylle insiste som what more to thaire laste, mooste termynal, offence. 1685 J. Falconer Cryptomenysis Patefacta i. 10 E is very often a terminal Letter, and y terminates Words, but they are distinguishable. ?1710 Etymol. Lat. Tongue ii. 11 The third Declination hath seventy Terminations made up of the eleven Terminal Letters. 1831 Foreign Q. Rev. 7 378 Alliterative metre is formed without..dependence upon the aid of terminal rhyme. 1877 E. Dowden Shakspere (Macmillan Lit. Primers) iv. 41 These may be found as terminal words in the blank verse of Milton and of Wordsworth. 1910 Times 2 Mar. 4/3 The Council recommend that for the present quarterly capitation tax of ten shillings, a terminal payment of forty-two shillings be substituted. 1937 Philos. Rev. 46 439 Those terminal notes..together outswell the essay. 1969 Financial Times 12 Apr. 14/3 The net assets shown are after providing for terminal tax assessments on the group companies. 2007 T. Rayment Probl. Assessment Art & Design Introd. 14 There is a common pattern of question papers being issued to candidates some weeks in advance of the terminal examination. b. Medicine. (a) Designating the final stage of a disease, esp. when terminating in death; occurring during this stage. Also (of a disease): that is in its final stage; fatal; incurable. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > dying deadlyc893 swelting?a1400 dyingc1450 at (the) utterance1525 in (the, his) extremes1551 parting1562 Acherontic1597 ending1600 departing1603 on one's last legs1614 expiring1635 mortifying1649 morient1679 upon one's last stretch1680 gasping1681 à la mort1700 moribund1721 outward-bound1809 terminal1854 on the brink of the grave1872 defunctive1929 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [adjective] > terminal terminative1675 terminal1854 the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [adjective] > hospital > type of ward acute-care1803 terminal1854 secure1976 1854 Assoc. Med. Jrnl. 14 Apr. 335/1 It is impossible to distinguish between the stools of the premonitory and terminal stages of cholera. 1872 Lancet 13 Apr. 523/2 Thickness of speech and paresis of the upper limbs, which, in Dr. Pollard's case, were initial phenomena, are terminal in ataxy. 1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 422 In the moribund a ‘terminal’ leucocytosis is frequently observed. 1905 Lepra 5 292/2 Disease had progressed, and the stage was terminal. 1910 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. May 729 Terminal case [of leprosy] of the tubercular type. 1976 Church Times 23 July 11/1 I now have several progressive illnesses; one is terminal. 2014 New Yorker 11 Aug. 6/3 Our three-month-old child was given a diagnosis of terminal spinal muscular atrophy. (b) Of an individual: affected with a terminal disease or the terminal stage of a disease; close to death, moribund. ΚΠ 1912 Charity Service Rep. (Cook County, Illinois) 108 In January, 1912, all of the tuberculosis cases who were able to be up and around were transferred,..leaving in this institution only the cases known as ‘Terminal Cases’. 1941 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 18 Jan. 218/1 It is our practice, in dealing with the terminal patient, to give a narcotic in its minimal clinically effective analgesic dose. 1985 Glasgow Herald 5 Oct. 7/6 We would not now care to guess how many terminal begonias have been brought back to life with a pint of the stuff poured into their roots. 2009 M. Malone Four Corners Sky (2010) xv. 127 The receptionist conceded cheerfully that most of their patients were ‘pretty terminal’. (c) Designating an institution or hospital ward caring for individuals in the terminal stage of a disease; designating care of this type. ΚΠ 1913 Evening Rev. (E. Liverpool, Ohio) 8 Sept. 3/3 The end of all this classification is the terminal ward. In that are the filthy cases, which are absolutely incurable. 1928 Survey (N.Y.) 15 Oct. 79/1 Even the free or moderately priced services which the Good Samaritan Hospital offers to women were sought only for relatively short periods of terminal care. 1961 Lancet 2 Sept. 548/2 Excellent care of these patients has been carried out not only at St. Joseph's but also in other terminal homes and hospitals. 1974 N.Y. Times 16 June iv. 7/2 On terminal care, 82 per cent [of doctors] would practice a form of passive euthanasia on members of their family, 86 per cent on themselves. 1990 D. Walcott Omeros xxxvi. 183 Behind me, reverential mourners whispered like people in banks or terminal wards. 2014 M. Lipscomb Hospice in Change iv. 83 While terminal care can be complex, proximity to death does not in itself automatically signal the presence of complex needs. c. figurative and in extended use: irreversible, irreparable; extremely severe; calamitous, disastrous.Often in terminal case, esp. with reference to something regarded metaphorically as a disease. Cf. quots. 1910 at sense A. 1b(a), 1912 at sense A. 1b(b). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [adjective] > harmful or injurious > very balefulOE wanlichc1275 grievous1340 malignc1350 maliciousa1398 venom1538 virulent1563 malignant1564 blasting1591 fatal1681 blighting1796 terminal1952 1952 W. Plomer Museum Pieces xiv. 125 A man who feels that there is something terminal about his own existence may easily envisage the world as failing with him. 1961 N.Y. Times Mag. 5 Nov. 125/2 Simultaneous frustration in both places [sc. the United States and the Soviet Union] could be the fatal condition that would make a terminal case of civilization. 1973 Black Panther 11 Aug. 8/2 The country was plunged into shock and the President faced a terminal crisis. 1981 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 2/1 Another contest for Labour's deputy leadership next year could prove ‘terminal’ for the party, Mr Neil Kinnock..said. 1987 B. Parcells & M. Lupica Parcells i. 2 Just when I thought I had a terminal case of assistantitis, I became head coach at Air Force. 1996 Big Issue 15 July 12/1 The business went into what many thought was terminal decline. 2015 Farm Weekly (Nexis) 24 Dec. 10 A lifetime of sameness would be a recipe for terminal boredom. †2. Heraldry. Of a coat of arms: marked by a distinctive border reserved for the younger brothers of the head of the family. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > [adjective] > bordure terminal1486 bordured1610 1486 Coote Armuris sig. bi^v, in Bk. St. Albans Ther be .ix. dyuisionis of cotarmures .v. perfite & .iiii. vnperfite. The .v. perfite be theys Termynall Collaterall Abstrakte Fixall and Bastard. 1486 Coote Armuris sig. bi^v, in Bk. St. Albans Termynall is calde in armys all the bretheren of right lyne hethir by fadre or by modre may bere the right heyris cotarmure with a differens calde Enbordyng. 1586 J. Ferne Blazon of Gentrie 254 The firste coate-armour perfect, was called abstract: and that was the coat of the heyre... The second, was called Terminall. This was a coat of difference, and did belong to all the younger brethren of the right line. These did beare the right heyres coat, (which was their elder brother) with differences of Enbording. 1632 Guillim's Display of Heraldrie (ed. 2) i. v. 31 How they then were disposed of, in the Terminall, Collaterall and Fixall Coat-Armours, I refer you to Sir John Ferne and others, who have writ plentifully of them. 1680 G. Mackenzie Sci. Herauldry 72 Arms were divided into perfect, and abated Arms. Perfect were call'd abstract: But Arms fixal, and terminal were these of Cadets. 3. Belonging to or lasting for a term or definite period; esp. relating to a university or law term; occurring every term or for the duration of a term; termly. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > time > frequency > [adjective] > periodical or recurring at regular intervals continualc1530 periodical1585 termly1594 clock-like1609 terminal1610 stated1611 regular1639 periodic1661 clockwork1679 recursive1766 clockwork-like1875 tidal1876 seasonal1880 society > education > educational administration > [adjective] > session or term terminal1610 winterim1964 sessional1965 1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia iii. ii. 68 Terminall Right is either an Estate for life, as the Dowagers, Grauntees for life; &c. Or for Yeares, as by Lease, Mortgage, &c. 1656 P. King Surfeit to ABC 25 If I were a publique professor with an annual and life terminal pension, I could chop and change many readings. 1790 Let. to V. Knox 18 The inforcement of full Terminal Residence, which has already taken place in many Colleges. 1846 Athenaeum 19 Sept. 972/2 Deficiency is early discovered by failure at terminal examinations. 1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. II. xv. 260 This council sitting in terminal courts assisted the king in hearing suits. 1885 Law Times 80 5/1 A set of rooms in college..at a yearly rent payable by three terminal payments. 1922 Burnley Express & Advertiser 25 Nov. 11/1 Lomeshaye House School, Nelson... Day, Weekly, and Terminal Boarders are arranged for. 1935 Surrey Mirror & County Post 31 May 17/5 The terminal meeting of the Dorking (Petty Sessional) Divisional Sub-Committee of the Surrey Education Department..was the last meeting of that body under its old constitution. 4. a. Located at or forming the end or extremity of something. Cf. term n. 9a. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > end or extremity > [adjective] desinent1608 terminal1650 terminatory1675 distal1882 1650 tr. Nicholas of Cusa Idiot iii. 121 I thinke a terminal point [L. punctum terminalem] indivisible. 1769 J. Berkenhout Outl. Nat. Hist. Great Brit. & Ireland I. 174 Antennæ, proceeding from the Trunk, of 5 globules, and a filiform terminal joint. 1878 F. J. Bell & E. R. Lankester tr. C. Gegenbaur Elements Compar. Anat. 435 The ‘plough-shaped bone’ forms the terminal portion of the vertebral column. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 239/1 What are termed ‘Heberden's nodes’ are small hard knobs about the size of a pea frequently found upon the fingers near the terminal phalangeal joints. 1968 B. Kurtén Pleistocene Mammals Europe xiii. 161 The acoronate (or ‘crownless’) deer differs from typical European stags in that the terminal part of the antler carries a simple fork. 2013 New Scientist 21 Dec. 43/1 Viruses from hot acidic environments often have virions with highly unusual shapes:..long filaments with nanoscale terminal claws. b. Botany. Located at the growing end of a stem, branch, or other part. Contrasted with lateral and axillary. ΚΠ ?1765 G. Fordyce Elements Agric. iii. 52 Grasses and other Plants having terminal Flowers. 1827 H. Steuart Planter's Guide (1828) 448 Plantations..pruned..by the removal of Terminal Shoots, and Terminal Buds. ?1877 F. E. Hulme Familiar Wild Flowers I. Summary p. vi Inflorescence terminal and axillary. a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1419 When the terminal bud of some tropical trees is cut off there is a flow of sweet sap, which is used to make palm wine. 1986 J. A. Samson Trop. Fruits (ed. 2) ix. 246 The scions are cut from terminal growth of registered trees with plump buds. 2013 Jrnl. Tribune (York County, Maine) 5 Mar. a4 The terminal bud isn't always necessarily the largest, but it represents the end point for the leaf production on any given branch. c. Crystallography. Designating any face, edge, or angle of a crystal through which the principal axis passes. In early use also: †designating any edge or angle of a face of this kind (obsolete). ΚΠ 1798 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 88 440 There are instances of crystals of Corundum, belonging to the variety where the terminal planes make, with the planes of the pyramid, a solid angle of about 100°. 1805 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals 36 Terminal edges are formed by the junction of a lateral and terminal plane. 1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 71 The square prism has all its terminal edges similar, and all its terminal angles also similar. 1848 tr. M. V. Regnault Elem. Treat. Crystallogr. 30 The principal axis connects the two terminal angles.., whilst the secondary axes connect the centres of the opposite lateral edges. 1953 W. W. Brannock et al. Contrib. Geochemistry 1949 87 By properly revolving the crystal and adjusting the lights for each face, all the terminal faces can be photographed successively. 2005 I. Sunagawa Crystals iv. 74 With increasing impurity content, the terminal faces (i.e the faces appearing on the tips of prismatic or needle crystals) of prismatic SnO₂ and TiO₂ crystals change from flat..to rounded faces. d. Situated at the end of a railway line or other transport route; designating a railway or other transport terminal.Cf. sense B. 4a and Compounds 2a. ΘΚΠ society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [adjective] > situated at or relating to end of line terminal1837 society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > [adjective] > at end of railway line terminal1837 1837 F. Whishaw Anal. Railways Gloss. On a descent from the depôt or terminal station. 1869 Bradshaw's Railway Man. 21 87 This line..terminates in the city, at a great terminal station in Liverpool Street. 1907 Daily Chron. 10 Sept. 4/6 The Canadian Pacific Railway Company selected the spot for their western terminal port on the shores of the Pacific. 1965 Times 27 May 6/5 B.U.A. is..also asking the board to vary its London-Barcelona service licence to permit Gerona to be included on the route as an optional stop and alternative terminal stop. 2015 Times of India 22 Dec. To develop Santragachi into a terminal station, the Railway Board sanctioned nearly Rs 350 crore. e. Designating a telegraph pole at which a line ends or one to which individual homes and businesses are directly connected. Now rare. ΚΠ 1859 Morning Post 30 Sept. 5/3 The terminal pole, connecting the cable with the land wires, was erected with the necessary fittings ready to join the Neapolitan systems of telegraphs. 1885 Telegr. Jrnl. & Electr. Rev. 13 June 533/2 Sketch and describe a terminal telegraph pole, showing how the ‘leading in’ wires are brought into the office from it. 1939 Princ. Electr. Telephone & Telegr. Work (Amer. Telephone & Telegr. Co.) xxii. 196/1 The wires are connected to cable conductors extending from the terminal pole to the toll central office. 1963 Salina (Kansas) Jrnl. 5 July 10/2 Other cables will feed out from the main cable to telephone pole terminals. Individual phones are connected to the terminal poles. 5. a. Placed or used as a landmark at the boundary of a region. Also: designating a god thought to preside over a boundary or boundaries (cf. terminus n. 3). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [adjective] finitivec1550 limitaneous1640 terminal1652 limitary1731 limital1847 1652 F. Whyte For Sacred Law of Land Pref. 12 Those who removed the Terminall stones, or boundary markes were punishable by the Civill Law. 1744 J. Paterson Compl. Comm. Paradise Lost 218 The emblem of his being the terminal god, defending the borders of that nation. 1769 Middlesex Jrnl. 27 Apr. The boundaries of that abbey were said to be marked by certain stones, or small obelisks... After he had dug to the foundation of this terminal column, he was overjoyed to find a small earthen urn. 1828 T. Allen Hist. & Antiq. London III. 179 The font is a circular basin of marble, on a stone terminal pillar. 1847 G. Grote Hist. Greece III. ii. xvi. 283 A terminal pillar set up by Crœsus at Kydrara. 1896 Amer. Jrnl. Archaeol. & Hist. Fine Arts 11 559 A terminal stone marking the boundaries of public lands. 1930 G. K. Chesterton Four Faultless Felons 50 That motionless head might indeed have been that of some terminal god of gardens. 1977 Undercurrents June 24/1 Tumuli, beacons, moated castles,..carefully surveyed to link up two terminal points on the tops of the hills. 1991 L. Keppie Understanding Roman Inscriptions viii. 59/2 The corners of the square plots..were marked by terminal stones. b. Designating a statue, bust, or other figure representing the upper part of the body (sometimes without the arms), and terminating below in a pillar or pedestal out of which it appears to emerge, originally used as a boundary marker in ancient Rome. Cf. term n. 15, terminus n. 3b. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [adjective] > bust terminal1747 bust-like1797 1747 J. Spence Polymetis viii. 109 The statues that relate to this Mercury are of that aukward terminal figure, which was so much in fashion..in all the best ages of antiquity. 1800 J. Salmon Hist. Descr. Anc. & Mod. Rome II. App. 326 Near the left door, is a terminal statue of a Woman..with a basso-relievo on the base. 1858 N. Hawthorne French & Ital. Note-bks. I. 177 Great urns and vases, terminal figures, temples. 1908 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 28 13 (caption) Double terminal bust of Dionysus and Alexander of Hermes. 1964 S. Sitwell Great Palaces of Europe 128 A yet stranger and more powerful impact is made by the firmly-rooted terminal statues grouped in a semi-circle to announce the lowest of the fountains. 1999 A. Burnett in G. M. Paul Rom. Coins & Public Life Under Empire viii. 139 Examples might be the terminal statue of Mercury on Roman Republican coins..or the archaic statue of Diana Nemorensis. 6. Philosophy and Logic. Relating to a term (term n. 13) as an element of a proposition.Frequently contrasted with propositional (propositional adj. 1). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > term of a proposition > [adjective] terminal1855 1855 R. G. Latham Eng. Lang. (ed. 4) II. 420 A conjunction is a part of speech which connects either terms or propositions... The terminal conjunctions, as they may be called, are rarer than the propositional. 1858 A. De Morgan On Syllogism in Trans. Cambr. Philos. Soc. (1864) x. 194 Logic has always recognised two kinds of some; that of terminal ambiguity, some-it-may-be-all; and that of terminal precision, some-not-all, the some of common life. 1891 Cent. Dict. Terminal quantity, the quantity of a term, as universal or particular. 1955 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 20 208 ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, and ‘5’ are proposition-forming functors of two terminal arguments. 2015 G. Englebretsen Exploring Topics in Hist. & Philos. of Logic iii. 48 This naturally raised the question of which interpretation (terminal or propositional) was primary. B. n. †1. In plural. The Terminalia, an ancient Roman festival held annually in honour of the god Terminus: see terminus n. 3. Cf. saturnal n. 1. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > [noun] > day or season of high tideOE high dayOE feast dayc1300 ferie1377 festival day1389 feastful day1440 festivala1500 gaudy-day1567 carnival1598 utas1600 saturnal1605 Saturnalia1639 terminals1656 days of gala1716 fête dayc1759 mirth-day1778 season1791 festa1800 jour de fête1806 fiesta1844 fest1846 Winterval1982 1656 T. Blount Glossographia Terminals (terminalia), feasts..kept in February at the eighth calends of March. 2. One or more syllables or words coming at the end of a word, phrase, line, or other linguistic unit; = termination n. 6. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > [noun] > syllabic sound > syllable > last syllable terminant1589 terminal1831 ultima1913 the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [noun] > surname nameeOE surnounc1325 surname1393 overname1574 agnomination1590 family name1646 last name1695 terminal1866 1831 Westm. Rev. Jan. 61 The derivation of one word from another.., or rather the different states in which a root presents itself with terminals added. 1866 Sat. Rev. 21 Apr. 474 Madlle. Orgeni (German in spite of her patronymic terminal) comes directly from Berlin. 1888 Young Folks Paper 24 Mar. 189/1 The objection to ‘nooks’ as a rhyming terminal..is that it can hardly occur without ‘brooks’ to follow. 1904 Athenæum 21 May 646/2 Mr. Coleridge transposes the rhyming terminals ‘healthy’ and ‘wealthy’. 1972 K. C. Jain Malwa through Ages xiv. 465 [An] inscription containing the letters of the alphabet and the Sanskrit conjugational terminals has been recovered. 1990 Internat. Rev. Appl. Linguistics 28 122 Chinese listeners were able to identify the French rising and falling terminals. 3. A part or structure situated at or forming the end, or an end, of something. a. Any of the points in an electrical circuit or device at which an electrical connection may be made; a part of a device or circuit forming such a point, esp. the electrical contacts of a battery. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > [noun] > incomplete circuit > free end of terminal1838 1838 W. Sturgeon in Ann. Electr., Magnetism, & Chem. 2 11 That [part] which is connected with the positive pole of the exciting apparatus..may very conveniently be called the ‘salient terminal metal’, or occasionally the ‘salient terminal’ only. 1869 M. Somerville Molecular & Miscrosc. Sci. I. i. ii. 52 When the copper conducting wires are fitted with charcoal terminals and brought near to one another, the dazzling lights combine in one blaze. 1935 Pop. Mech. Mar. 476/1 Corroded terminals should be scraped clean to assure good electrical contact. 1986 F. Guillou & C. Gray in A. Limon et al. Home Owner Man. (ed. 2) v. iii. 744 Now imagine a wire connected from the earth terminal of the wiring installation as a whole to this electrode. 2004 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 18 Apr. iii. 22/2 Remove cables and clean the connectors and battery terminals with a terminal brush. b. Anatomy and Physiology. A specialized structure at the end of a nerve fibre; a nerve ending; (in later use) spec. one at which synaptic transmission occurs. Cf. terminal button n. (a) at Compounds 1. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > nerve fibre > end of terminal1858 1858 H. W. Lobb On More Obscure Forms Nerv. Affections 77 It is only the peripheric termination of the nerve that is acutely sensitive, the nerve itself being but very partially so; and even when sensitive, referring the sensation to its terminal. 1866 A. C. Garratt Med. Electr. (ed. 3) iii. 126 For Hearing, the nerve terminals are much like those of the tongue. 1910 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Mar. 618/1 When from without we attempt to manipulate a part, we are bound, in the first place, to influence the terminals of the sensory nerves of the cerebro-spinal nerve system. 1942 Physiol. Rev. 22 155 Monosynaptic systems, that is, neurons receiving only one synaptic terminal. 1984 H. J. Granger et al. in N. A. Mortillaro Physiol. & Pharmacol. of Microcirculation II. vii. 239 The distribution of adrenergic terminals in the primates is similar to that found in the dog and cat. 2014 Times (Nexis) 15 Sept. 54 Julia realised that peptides existed in the nerve terminals in organs such as the heart. c. Originally: any of various devices used to enter data and commands into a computer or to view its output. In later use: a device used to enter data and commands remotely into a central computer or computer system and to display its output, typically consisting of a keyboard or other input device and a video display.Although some terminals are themselves capable of processing data, many have very limited functionality beyond that necessary to allow the user to interact with a computer system. ΘΚΠ society > computing and information technology > network > [noun] > workstation data terminal1958 terminal1958 satellite1961 workstation1972 1958 Oxf. Mag. 29 May 470/1 The ‘terminal’ equipment, consisting of punched paper tape and a teleprinter, is relatively slow. 1965 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery 12 350 (heading) On a problem concerning a central storage device served by multiple terminals. 1979 Computers in Shell (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co.) (recto rear cover) Types of terminals include card readers, printers, video screens and teletypes. 1990 Internat. Managem. Mar. 62/3 Simply by inserting your credit card into a terminal before your flight leaves, you can check your reservation. 2003 N. Erlick GermLine v. 180 Now, she could access Delphi autopsy files, under his name—unless they monitored such intrusions, or traced it back to her terminal. 4. a. (a) A station at the end of a railway line; a building or other facility at the end point of a route used by buses, shipping, etc.; a terminus; (also) (chiefly U.S.) a place or town which has such a terminus. More generally: a major station. ΘΚΠ society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > [noun] > terminus for train terminus1825 terminal1844 end of steel1909 society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > public passenger transport > [noun] > travel by bus > terminus for buses station1832 terminal1844 bus station1871 bus depot1879 bus terminal1911 1844 Act 7 & 8 Victoria c. 85 §6 All Passenger Railway Companies..shall..provide for the Conveyance of Third Class Passengers to and from the terminal. 1888 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 7 Aug. 3/2 The Canadian Pacific..company has purchased extensive dock property and terminals at Windsor, opposite Detroit. 1900 Jrnl. School Geogr. (U.S.) Apr. 135 The seaboard terminal is New York, with its three million of people. 1937 New Statesman 25 Dec. 1094/1 A rail-cum-steamer terminal on the Firth of Clyde. 1943 National Geographic Mag. Dec. 672/1 Beneath the towers of the city the bus terminals are packed with travelers. 1981 M. Moorcock Byzantium Endures ii. 50 Glavnaya Station, the main terminal of Odessa situated in the heart of the city. 2013 Observer 1 Sept. 30/2 The ministry of tourism has allocated £7.5m for tourism projects, including a golf course, helicopter tours and a cruise ship terminal. (b) spec. A building at an airport where passengers transfer baggage and pass through security and customs when boarding or disembarking from a plane. ΚΠ 1921 Flight 16 June 401 (caption) Two London–Paris terminals.—The lower photograph shows Cricklewood aerodrome..the upper picture shows the Paris air port. 1958 Times 1 Mar. 7/4 Each city or town would adopt the type of terminal [for helicopters] best suited to its own locality. 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose vi. 270 Walking from the hostel to the terminal [of an airline]. 1980 R. McCrum In Secret State xiii. 122 Quitman took the Piccadilly line to Heathrow... Soon he was standing on the travolator, riding up towards Terminal Three. 2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 June c10/6 The project will also probably use an island-style arrangement instead of a wall of counters in the terminal to accommodate bulky new baggage screening machines. b. A charge made by a railway company for the use of a terminus or other station, and for services rendered in loading or unloading goods. Usually in plural. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > [noun] > carriage of goods, etc. > in wheeled vehicle > by rail > types of mileage1837 terminal1867 commodity rate1883 traffic1887 1867 Royal Comm. Railways: Minutes of Evid. 1865–6 448/1 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 3844-I) XXXVIII. 127 No terminal should be charged except at each end of the route, the mileage rate being considered compensatory to the various lines over which the goods travel. 1878 F. S. Williams Midland Railway (ed. 4) 188 There was a sum of £5000 or £6000 for ‘terminals’. 1887 Contemp. Rev. Jan. 82 The cost of collection, loading, covering, unloading, and delivering,..are the chief items included under the denomination of ‘terminals’. 1905 Dept. Commerce & Labor Bureau Census: Bull. No. 21. 50/1 All purely gross revenue methods in handling terminals must be extremely arbitrary. 1960 All India Reporter: Allahabad 441/2 Unlike the charge for haulage, or terminals, it is not a charge which every trader is compelled to pay. c. An installation where oil or gas is stored, typically located at the end of a pipeline or at a port of call for tankers.Recorded earliest in oil terminal n. at oil n.¹ Compounds 4a(c). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > workplace > places for working with specific materials > place for working with oil or gas > [noun] > for collection or storage terminal1886 tank farm1932 spar1973 1886 Harper's Mag. Jan. 252/1 Great complaints were made that all the oil terminal facilities of railways..were owned or leased by the Standard interests. 1914 Fuel Oil Jrnl. Jan. 24/1 The storage tanks, docks and export orders..will be used as the American seaboard terminal. 1940 Life 1 July 59 Rieber had to..handle oil with one gang of men while he built the terminal with another. 1976 M. Machlin Pipeline vi. 70 The 707 could then descend to a relatively low level and follow the route of the pipeline to its terminal. 2011 A. C. Inkpen & M. H. Moffett Global Oil & Gas Industry xi. 410 The north section..runs from the Nyhamna terminal to the Sleipner platform. 5. A carving, engraving, or other decoration placed at the end or edge of an object (as a tool, an item of furniture, etc.). Cf. finial n. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > end or extremity > [noun] endc825 headOE finea1300 nolla1387 extremityc1400 hinder end?1523 extreme1570 termininea1593 exit1615 outmost1634 terminus1704 knobhead1793 terminal1865 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > sculpture or carving > [noun] > a sculpture or carving > group or spec. subject antic1532 Our Lady Piety1533 drapery1552 antiquary1573 urn1653 story1657 Pietàc1660 gigantomachy1820 set piece1846 terminal1865 wheatear1882 protome1886 protoma1894 koruru1897 blemya1915 Lincoln imp1926 1865 Morning Star 27 Feb. Seats..panelled with oak, the elbow rails having carved terminals. 1904 B. C. A. Windle Remains Prehist. Age Eng. 100 Chapes or terminals to scabbards which may have belonged to daggers or to swords. 1960 R. E. Oakeshott Archaeol. Weapons i. iii. 58 All the decoration is put on the strap loop, which is now centrally placed with its ornamental terminals at top and bottom of the scabbard. 1993 Britannia 24 104 A tall stemmed beaker..with the zoomorphic terminals which commonly appear. 2000 Western Morning News 22 July 2 On either side of this [sc. a seat] are the upholstered arms with lion mask carved terminals. 6. A terminal figure or statue, or the pedestal supporting this; = term n. 15. See sense A. 5b. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [noun] > statue > bust or torso block1535 term1604 busto1626 torse1634 terminus1638 busty1684 bust1691 shoulder-piece1692 protome1737 torso1797 portrait bust1827 terminal1876 term figure1880 1876 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) Gloss. 1332 Term or Terminal, a sort of trunk, pillar, or pedestal. 1876 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) Gloss. 1337 at Vagina The lower part of a terminal in which a statue is apparently inserted. 1947 O. Percival Children's Garden Bk. (2005) 46 Usually, terminals are of the old garden gods or other deities of the Greeks and Romans. 2009 P. Craddock Sci. Investig. Copies, Fakes & Forgeries iv. 74/2 (caption) Details of the incomplete terminal bust..showing holes drilled to act as guides to the carving. They were laid out with plumb-bob and line, enabling a whole series of almost identical terminals to have been produced for architectural purposes. 7. A person affected with a terminal illness. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > sick person > [noun] > terminal terminal1960 1960 J. G. Ballard in New Worlds Oct. 95 The terminals sleeping in the adjacent dormitory block attracted hordes of would-be sightseers. 1976 Church Times 23 July 11/2 Mr. Rice recently paid a third visit to the nun—who is bedridden and a terminal—and questioned her again, mainly about prayer and intercession. 2001 B. McNamara Fragile Lives ii. 24 These patients are the ‘silent terminals’—discussion about death is avoided and the patients and families use silence as a coping mechanism. Compounds C1. Compounds of the adjective. terminal ballistics n. the branch of ballistics which deals with the behaviour of a projectile upon impact; (also) the ballistic properties of a projectile or the material from which it is constructed at the point of impact. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > missile discharged from weapon > science of > specific branch exterior ballistics1880 interior ballistics1880 terminal ballistics1907 1907 Jrnl. U.S. Artillery 28 69 Special apparatus belonging to another kind of ballistics, terminal ballistics. 1947 L. E. Simon German Research World War II vii. 109 Terminal ballistics is concerned with the motion of the projectile, its fragments, and gases in the neighbourhood of the target. 1971 Jrnl. Criminal Law, Criminol., & Police Sci. 62 453/2 The casts of the cavities formed in the clay by the bullets provide a standard for comparison of the terminal ballistics of the different bullets. 2006 West Austral. (Perth) (Nexis) 11 July 5 A specialist in terminal ballistics proves conclusively..that 15-year-old Footscray boy Duc Tran was deliberately shot by his stepfather. terminal bonus n. a financial bonus given at the end of a particular period; spec. an additional amount of money added to a payment made on the maturity of an insurance policy or on the death of an insured person. ΚΠ 1919 Times of India 22 Aug. 3/5 An initial bonus of Rs. 50 on joining appointment at Poona and a terminal bonus of Rs. 50 on completion of six months' satisfactory service. 1967 Guardian 4 Jan. 11/4 The new system of terminal bonuses has been introduced so that the normal profits of life assurance business can be supplemented by the results of successful investment. 2004 A. Vice 7 Ways to beat Pension Crisis vii. 114 Something of a question overhangs the terminal bonus, which is paid when the policy matures. terminal button n. Biology (a) an enlarged area at the end of a structure; spec. a knob-shaped ending of an axon (cf. bouton n. Additions 3); (b) the small terminal segment of the rattle of a rattlesnake. [In sense (a) after French bouton terminal small swelling or enlarged region at the end of a structure (1843 in the passage translated in quot. 1849), bulb-shaped end of a nerve fibre or cell (R. Wagner 1853, in Ann. des Sci. Nat. (Zool.) 19 373).] ΚΠ 1849 J. H. Wilson tr. A. de Jussieu Elements Bot. 217 It is in this cell that the poison is formed; and when it buries itself in the skin, it breaks and leaves its end there, which is retained by the small terminal button [Fr. le petit bouton terminal]. 1854 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. 27 200 To these [nervous] fibrils are attached either the elements of the tissues, or..ganglionic (nervous) cells, forming as it were ‘terminal buttons’. 1891 Timehri 5 4 Occasionally true rattlesnakes are observed in which there is no rattle developed, the many-pieced appendage being represented only by a terminal button. 1904 Sci. Amer. 9 Jan. 31/3 The snail has a good sense of smell, and the [nasal] organ is seated in the terminal button at the end of the large feelers. 1947 G. Pickwell Amphibians & Reptiles Pacific States 87 The older Snake may lose the terminal button of the rattle as well as a number of rings, so that it is no longer possible to determine the total number of rattles which had been produced. 2008 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 92/1 The neurons are made up of parts like axons and dendrites, which are made up of smaller parts like terminal buttons and receptor sites, which are made up of molecules, and so on. terminal degree n. North American Education the highest degree achievable in a given academic or professional discipline. ΘΚΠ society > education > educational administration > university administration > taking degree or graduation > [noun] > a degree > types of first degree1530 honorary degreea1661 poll degree1834 poll1843 honours degree1851 summa cum laude1856 pass degree1865 terminal degree1904 Hons. degree1913 cum laude1927 summa1968 1904 Science 27 May 820 This terminal degree—perhaps we may call it master's degree—must be specialized. 1967 Times Lit. Suppl. 8 June 519/2 (advt.) Ph.D. or terminal degree in one of visual, performing, or architectural arts desired. 2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 23 Apr. (Educ. Life section) 40/1 At that time..I needed only a master's degree to teach. Now..most theater departments require a ‘terminal’ degree (Ph.D. or M.F.A.). terminal guidance n. the guidance of a missile, spacecraft, etc., which takes place as it nears its target, during the final phase of its journey. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > [noun] > aim or aiming > guidance terminal guidance1949 1949 Jrnl. Amer. Rocket Soc. Sept. 139 The V-2 flies a ballistic trajectory, does not maneuver, and has no midcourse or terminal guidance. 1950 Jrnl. Inst. Navigation 3 141 Whether such a weapon could be considered for any future war will depend..on the possibilities of navigation and terminal guidance. 1979 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 127 555/1 Long-range, sea-skimming missiles with terminal guidance. 1990 Human Explor. of Space (National Res. Council) iv. 25 Present knowledge of lunar and Martian surface features is adequate for lander modules, provided that high-resolution imagery is incorporated for terminal guidance. 2014 Aviation Week & Space Technol. (Nexis) 27 Oct. An imaging infrared seeker provides terminal guidance. terminal juncture n. Linguistics a juncture (juncture n. 2c) that occurs at the end of a syntactic unit. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > [noun] > transition between sounds > types of open juncture1941 plus juncture1951 terminal juncture1951 1951 G. L. Trager & H. L. Smith Outl. Eng. Struct. ii. 56 Suprasegmental morphemes consisting of patterns of stress, with the possibility of including plus junctures, are called superfixes. Those consisting of pitches and a terminal juncture are called intonation patterns. 1975 Language 51 57 The final element, hacer, accompanied by terminal juncture, is associated with zero following elements. 2003 C. J. Pountain Exploring Spanish Lang. iv. 80 Polar questions..are often signalled by nothing more than a rising terminal juncture in speech. terminal moraine n. Geology a moraine marking the furthest limit of advance of a glacier or ice sheet (cf. lateral moraine n. at lateral adj. and n. Compounds). ΚΠ 1840 London & Edinb. Philos. Mag. 16 348 I have seen no kind of deposit now in progress precisely similar in character to the till, except one, namely, the terminal moraines of glaciers. 1971 J. Blish Star Trek 4 9 He also knew, geologically, where they were; in a terminal moraine, the rock-tumble pushed ahead of itself by an advancing glacier. 2010 A. Goudie & H. Viles Landscapes & Geomorphol. ii. 17 Once a glacier starts to retreat, it loses the energy to carry this debris and deposits it as what geomorphologists call a ‘terminal moraine’. terminal nosedive n. Aeronautics (rare) a nosedive during which an aircraft reaches terminal velocity. ΘΚΠ society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [noun] > sudden rapid descent volplane1910 nosedive1912 dive1914 terminal nosedive1920 power dive1928 1920 Sci. Abstr. B. 23 288 Tables are given for the load factors for each class of machine..in terminal nose dive. 1933 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) 9 Terminal nose-dive, a dive at terminal velocity. terminal string n. Linguistics a string (string n. 15c) consisting wholly of terminal symbols. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic relations > [noun] > change of word order or position > specifically in transformational grammar > terminal symbol or string terminal symbol1962 terminal string1967 1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics vi. 118 A terminal string is composed of a certain number, say n, of terminal symbols. 1975 N. Chomsky Logical Struct. Ling. Theory (rev. ed.) vii. 174 The mapping in question may rearrange the order of elements of terminal strings and may specify their morphemic shape in various ways. 2010 Computer Music Jrnl. 34 61 The terminal string derived from the grammar is an abstract melody, created by chaining together a representative abstract melody in each cluster. terminal symbol n. Linguistics a symbol that denotes a lexical class and cannot be further rewritten. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic relations > [noun] > change of word order or position > specifically in transformational grammar > terminal symbol or string terminal symbol1962 terminal string1967 1962 E. Bach in Language 38 263 A fixed order of two or more constituents may result directly from the form of a rule: a → b + c, where b and c are either terminal symbols or lead to terminal symbols without rearrangement. 1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics vi. 119 In terms of dependency theory, let the level of a structure be one greater than the number of links from its origin to the terminal symbol furthest removed. 2006 Linguistics & Philos. 29 384 The CCG [sc. Combinatory Categorical Grammar] lexicon assigns each terminal symbol (that is, each word in the case of natural language) a finite set of categories. terminal velocity n. the constant velocity that a falling object will eventually attain as the resistance of the medium through which it is falling increases to equal the accelerating force acting on the object, preventing further acceleration; (also occasionally) the maximum velocity a device or machine can achieve. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > rate of motion > [noun] > in the physical sciences > at which air resistance equals weight of body terminal velocity1749 1749 F. Holliday Miscellanea Curiosa Mathematica II. 88 The altitude..from which a body sollicited by a constant force g in a non-resisting medium would fall to acquire the terminal velocity. 1829 Aurora & Pennsylvania Gaz. 21 Dec. 2/2 In many cases the engine perhaps had not acquired its maximum or terminal velocity when the stop took place. 1832 C. Babbage Econ. Machinery & Manuf. (ed. 2) vii. 50 Bodies, in falling through a resisting medium, after a certain time acquire a uniform velocity, which is called their terminal velocity, with which they continue to descend. 1914 Aeronaut. Jrnl. 18 50 He had dived, and had reached a speed so high that he thought it wise to straighten out without waiting to reach the terminal velocity. 2015 North Shore (Austral.) Times (Nexis) 24 July 8 In a belly-to-earth position skydivers reach terminal velocity at 190km/h. C2. Compounds of the noun. a. attributive in sense B. 4a, as terminal facilities, terminal gate, terminal staff, etc.Recorded earliest in terminal building n. at Compounds 2b.In early use sometimes difficult to distinguish from adjectival use (cf. sense A. 4d). ΚΠ 1852 Magnet 5 Jan. 6/4 The stone work of the hotel which..is being erected by the company in connection with the terminal building, is in a forward state. 1855 County Courts Chron. 1 Aug. 146/2 Under the term ‘terminal services’ is included the labour of arranging the trucks of different proprietors at the commencement of the journey. 1886 J. Shehyn Railways & Waterways 46 If we are about securing a through traffic, we must with all possible despatch offer..terminal facilities for the handling of a large trade. 1926 Washington Post 19 Nov. 5/5 Accompanying her on the train were a brother and a nurse. She was pronounced dead by Dr. Harnsberger of the terminal staff. 1989 Premiere Dec. 96/1 Special limousines were hired by the company to chauffeur him from one terminal gate to the next at every airport on his itinerary. 1993 Canada Moves Feb. Ins. front cover (advt.) We're investing heavily in terminal expansion..to improve cross-border movement of double-stack trains. 2005 Cheshire Life Aug. 113 Changes will be made to taxiways and terminal facilities, to cope with its size and the extra passengers it will bring. b. terminal building n. a building at a railway terminal, airport, or port; spec. the main building housing facilities for passengers. ΘΚΠ society > travel > air or space travel > airfield or airport > [noun] > airport > terminal building terminal building1852 arrival hall1895 1852 Magnet 5 Jan. 6/4 The stone work of the hotel which..is being erected by the company in connection with the terminal building, is in a forward state. 1888 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 21 Mar. 5/3 There is a certain class of work that can only be done in the terminal buildings such as repairing the heavy locomotive..wheels. 1933 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 37 10 A terminal building will house traffic control and airport administration. 1977 G. Scott Hot Pursuit iv. 38 At the airport..I got out of the terminal building and on to the bus. 2015 Straits Times (Singapore) 5 Aug. During the closure, travellers can expect some delays getting to and from the runway and terminal buildings. terminal emulation n. Computing (more fully remote terminal emulation) the action or practice of simulating a terminal interface for a computer system, typically by means of a program designed for this purpose; frequently attributive; cf. terminal emulator n. ΚΠ 1972 D. L. James in Proc. SHARE 38 II. 993 Previous work has been done in the field of remote terminal emulation. 1993 InfoWorld 19 July 52/1 I shamelessly sold terminal emulation software that delighted PC users by faithfully recreating..every ugly detail of the deeply offensive look and feel of 3270 screens from IBM mainframes. 2015 R. Blum & C. Bresnahan Linux Command Line & Shell Scripting Bible (ed. 3) iii. 48 After you start a terminal emulation package or log in to a Linux virtual console, you get access to the shell CLI prompt. terminal emulator n. Computing (more fully remote terminal emulator) a program or device used to simulate a terminal interface for a computer system, allowing the computer to interact with a mainframe or (in later use) display a command line interface. ΚΠ 1972 D. L. James in Proc. SHARE 38 II. 993 This slide illustrates the basic real-time characteristics of such remote terminal emulators. 1998 Network World 28 Sept. 82/1 In the beginning, there was the terminal emulator. This client-side emulation technique basically puts a dumb terminal..window on your much more intelligent PC. 2014 M. W. Graves Digital Archaeol. viii. 141 Terminal emulators are programs that operate within the graphical environment of the OS, but provide pure command-line services. terminal market n. Stock Market a commodity market in a major trading centre, primarily dealing in futures (future n. 6); (hence) the market in futures. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > traffic in stocks and shares > types of market commodity market1843 primary market1859 short interest1866 bear market1873 aftermarket1887 terminal market1887 Kaffir Circus1889 shop1889 bull market1891 open1898 curb-market1900 the junglea1901 jungle-market1900 short market1900 down market1915 short end1964 third market1964 Unlisted Securities Market1979 USM1979 bulldog market1980 1887 London & China Tel. 28 Nov. 1072/1 In the terminal markets closing quotations are the lowest yet established since the recent rise. 1952 Economist 22 Nov. 567/1 There is little hope of restoration of a terminal market until the domestic allocation of sugar is freed from rationing. 2011 Payments Source (Nexis) 8 Nov. The company's share of the market fell from second to third position in the U.S. this year as change rocked the terminal market. terminal screw n. a screw that acts as an electrical contact as part of a terminal (sense B. 3a). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > wire as conductor > [noun] > means of connection terminal screw1857 crossover block1892 tag1919 1857 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 13 331 The effect of the whole quantity cannot be transmitted at once, but must partake in some measure of the character of the stream-like discharge from the terminal screws alone. 1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. c4 Aluminum wire is stiffer than copper wire and does not bend as easily when wrapped around small terminal screws on switches and outlets. 2004 J. Bridgewater Home Electrics (2007) v. 124/1 Fit the central conductor under the terminal screw. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < adj.n.c1475
随便看	to come to a juddering halt to come to a killick to come to a person's bow to come to a person's ear to come to a person's ears to come to a person's hands to come to a person's mercy to come to a person's rescue to come to a pinch to come to a point to come to a pretty pass to come to a reckoning to come to a screeching halt to come to a screeching stop to come to a stand to come to a standstill to come to a sticky end to come to an anchor to come to an end to come to an explanation to come to an éclaircissement to come to anchor to come to attention to come to be a woman to come to bear