terminal English · revision 6088

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1459|origins=la terminus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈtɜː.mɪ.nəl/, US /ˈtɝː.mɪ.nəl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|terminālis|t=of a boundary or end, final]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from [[m|la|terminus|t=end, boundary line]] (see [[term]] and [[terminus]]) and the suffix [[m|la|-ālis]] (see [[-al]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Relating to or marking a boundary, limit or end: 1459 in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) final, ultimate, in the mid-15th century, and relating to boundaries in the late 15th century, in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED's first use is a heraldic term of 1486.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Placed at the boundary of a region, as a landmark, is from 1744,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the scientific sense, situated at the end or extremity, as a ''terminal bud'', from 1805.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Concluding or final, as in a ''terminal syllable'', is from 1827 in Barnhart and 1831 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Of a disease or a case, ending in death, is from 1891 in Barnhart, by 1862 in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and the slang sense “extreme” is from 1973.^(Etymonline) The noun was first the final syllable or letter of a word (1831), then by 1838 a terminal part, originally of the clamping screws at the ends of a battery.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The station at the end of a railway line is by 1870, extended to airlines by 1921,^(Etymonline) and the device for entering and receiving computer data is recorded by 1954.^(Etymonline) ''Terminal velocity'' of a falling body is by 1745.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1459 – marking a boundary or end.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1805 – at the end of a part, in science.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1831 – the noun, a final syllable.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1838 – an electrical terminal.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1870 – a railway terminal.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1891 – fatal, of a disease.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1921 – an air terminal.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1954 – a computer terminal.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # At, forming or relating to an end, limit or boundary.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a disease, ending in death; of a patient, dying of such a disease.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(botany)'' Growing at the end of a stem or branch.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' Extreme and beyond cure: ''terminal boredom''.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[station]] at the end of a railway, bus or air route, or a building where passengers arrive and leave.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A point in an electric [[circuit]] or device at which a connection is made.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A device with a keyboard and screen for entering and receiving data from a [[computer]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An ornamental figure placed at the end of a structure; a [[finial]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[terminally]]

+ * [[nonterminal]]

+ * [[interterminal]]

+ * [[preterminal]]

+ * [[subterminal]]

+ * [[terminal moraine]]

+ * [[terminal velocity]]

+ * [[terminal leave]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[term]]

+ * [[terminable]]

+ * [[terminate]]

+ * [[terminus]]

+ * [[determine]]

+ * [[exterminate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}