terminus Latin · revision 2737

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius|origins=ine-pro *térmn̥}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛr.mɪ.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛr.mi.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''terminus''' ''m'' (genitive terminī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The variants ''termō'' in Ennius and neuter ''termen'' in Varro and inscriptions are recorded.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*term(e)nos]], a thematized form of [[termen]], which directly continues [[ine-pro|*térmn̥|t=boundary]]; the OLD suggests that it was formed from the neuter plural [[m|la|termina]] on the analogy of [[locus]] and its plural [[m|la|loca]].^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) Cognate with [[grc|τέρμα|tr=térma|t=goal, end]] and [[grc|τέρμων|tr=térmōn|t=border]], the latter, like the Latin variant [[termo|alt=termō]], from the collective *térmō.^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Etymonline reconstructs *ter-men- “peg, post” from a root [[ine-pro|*ter-]] seen in [[hit|tarma-|t=peg, nail]], [[sa|तरति|tr=tarati|t=crosses over]] and [[ang|þurh|t=through]],^(Etymonline) and Köbler, Georges and Lewis and Short connect it with [[tero|alt=terere]] or with [[trans|alt=trāns]] and [[intro|alt=intrāre]].^(Köbler 2010)^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Naevius.^(Köbler 2010) The OLD's earliest quotations are Cato on the shrine of the god Terminus, Accius on the limit fixed by fate, and the agrarian law of 111 BC ordering [[m|en|boundary]] stones to be set up.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the stone or post marking the boundary of a property, worshipped as a divinity, Terminus, whose shrine Livy and Ovid describe; moving a boundary stone was a crime.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) It then meant the farthest limit of a country or empire, an extremity, and figuratively a limit or bound of an action or of fate.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero uses it for the end of a dispute and the ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' for the artful close of a speech.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was a district, the territory of a city or of a castle, a township, and a stretch of waste land assigned for use;^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010) it also came to mean a fixed period or date, a term, and in logic an expression, definition or concept.^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)^(Etymonline) English [[m|en|term]] came through Old French ''terme'' about 1200 as a limit in time, and ''terminus'' itself was borrowed in the 1610s for an end or goal.^(Etymonline) The Romance languages have Italian ''termine'', French ''terme'', Portuguese ''termo'' and Romanian ''țărm'' “shore”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato mentions the shrine of Terminus.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius writes of the limit set by fate.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 111 BC – The agrarian law orders boundary stones to be set up.^(OLD 2012)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the bounds of an art and the end of disputes.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the limit of the world.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * mid-8th century – The Tours formulary has medieval senses.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – [[en|term|alt=Term]] is borrowed into English through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – [[en|terminus|alt=Terminus]] is borrowed into English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|boundary]] stone or post; the god Terminus who presided over boundaries.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The farthest limit of a country or empire; an extremity.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A limit, a bound.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # An end, a close.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A district; the territory of a city or castle; a township.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A fixed period or date, a [[m|en|term]].^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, logic)'' A word, a term, a definition.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ampterminus]]

+ * [[conterminus]]

+ * [[interminis]]

+ * [[interminus]]

+ * [[terminālis]]

+ * [[terminō]]

+ * [[conterminum]]

+ * [[disterminus]]

+ * [[exterminus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terminātē]]

+ * [[terminātiō]]

+ * [[terminātor]]

+ * [[terminātus]]

+ * [[termen]]

+ * [[termō]]

+ * [[en|term]]

+ * [[en|terminus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes [[finis|alt=fīnis]], the boundary as a line, from ''terminus'', a stone marking a point, and [[limes|alt=līmes]], a ridge marking a line.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}