term

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /tɜːm/, US /tɝːm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English terme, borrowed from Old French terme (“limit of time or place, date, duration”),^[2][3][4] from Latin terminus (“end, boundary line”),^[2][3][5] which in Medieval Latin, and in Late Latin logic and mathematics, also meant “expression, definition”.^[3][5][6] Latin terminus is related to termen (“boundary, end”),^[2][3] and is cognate with Greek τέρμα (térma, “goal, boundary, end”) and τέρμων (térmōn, “boundary”), and with Sanskrit tárati, “he crosses over”.^[2][6][7] Etymonline notes that Old English had already borrowed termen (“term, end”) from Latin.^[3] It is related to terminus, terminal, terminate and determine.^[8][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A limit in time, a set or appointed period: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^[2] or about 1200.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A limit or boundary in space is from the 13th century,^[9] and the end of duration or existence from before 1300.^[9] The period of time during which something happens is from about 1300,^[3] and in the plural, the limiting conditions of an agreement (on these terms) from the 14th century.^[8] The sense “word or expression with a definite meaning” came from Medieval Latin,^[3][5] and Hoad dates it to the 14th century.^[8] Each of the fixed days for paying rent and wages is a term from 1426.^[9] The period when a law court or a school is in session is from 1454.^[2] The verb meant “to bring a legal dispute to an end” in the late 15th century,^[3] and “to give a name to, call” from 1560^[9][7] or the 1550s.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1200 – a set period of time (Ancrene Riwle).^[2]
• 13th century – a limit, boundary.^[9]
• c. 1300 – a period during which something happens.^[3]
• 14th century – terms, conditions; a word or expression.^[8]
• 1426 – a day for paying rent.^[9]
• 1454 – a session of a court or school.^[2]
• 1560 – verb, to name.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A limited period of time, especially one assigned to someone to serve: a term of office.
2. A period when a school or court is in session.
3. A point at which something ends, such as the end of a pregnancy or a deadline for payment.
4. A word or expression with a precise meaning, especially in a particular field.
5. (terms) The conditions of an agreement; also, a standing between people: on good terms.
6. (mathematics, logic) Each of the quantities in an expression or the parts of a proposition.

Verb

1. To call or name.

Word family

• termly

Related words

• terminal
• terminate
• terminology
• terminus
• determine
• exterminate

Usage notes

In Scotland a term was one of the half-yearly hiring days at Whitsuntide and Martinmas.^[10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)