terminus

noun

ter·​mi·​nus ˈtər-mə-nəs How to pronounce terminus (audio)
plural termini ˈtər-mə-ˌnī How to pronounce terminus (audio)
-ˌnē
or terminuses
1
: either end of a transportation line or travel route
also : the station, town, or city at such a place : terminal
2
: an extreme point or element : tip
the terminus of a glacier
3
: a final goal : a finishing point
4
: a post or stone marking a boundary

Did you know?

This word comes straight from Latin. In the Roman empire, a terminus was a boundary stone, and all boundary stones had a minor god associated with them, whose name was Terminus. Terminus was a kind of keeper of the peace, since wherever there was a terminus there could be no arguments about where your property ended and your neighbor's property began. So Terminus even had his own festival, the Terminalia, when images of the god were draped with flower garlands. Today the word shows up in all kinds of places, including in the name of numerous hotels worldwide built near a city's railway terminus.

Examples of terminus in a Sentence

Stockholm is the terminus for the southbound train. Geologists took samples from the terminus of the glacier. the terminus of the DNA strand
Recent Examples on the Web Schenk said momentum continued to grow behind the airport as the terminus because people were already frustrated by the lack of transit at the airport. David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Mar. 2024 The flow of water was ferocious — some 65,000 cubic feet per second at the terminus of the L.A. River’s flood control system. Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2024 Its southern terminus is Miami International Airport. David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 12 Jan. 2024 The southern terminus in Georgia was moved from one mountaintop to another, 37 miles away. Lizzie Johnson and Lauren Tierney, Anchorage Daily News, 27 July 2023 The required modernization work will restrict access in and out of downtown’s Union Station, the terminus for six of Metrolink’s seven service lines, as well as the agency’s Central Maintenance Facility, where passenger cars are cleaned and locomotives are serviced daily. Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2023 One particularly profound example of this pattern played out at the eastern terminus of the Santa Monica Freeway, in Boyle Heights, where thousands of Latinos were displaced and the neighborhood was remade with the construction of the East L.A. Interchange. Reis Thebault, Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2023 At either end of the facility was an EQA and EQS SUV, staged to meet at a terminus going 56 km/h or around 35 mph with a 50 percent overlap. Alex Kalogiannis, Ars Technica, 6 Nov. 2023 Eugene, Oregon The southern terminus of Amtrak's Cascades route is a lively, liberal college town known as the home of the Oregon Ducks and the birthplace of Nike. Molly O'Brien, Travel + Leisure, 20 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'terminus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin, boundary marker, limit — more at term entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1617, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of terminus was circa 1617

Dictionary Entries Near terminus

Cite this Entry

“Terminus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terminus. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

terminus

noun
ter·​mi·​nus ˈtər-mə-nəs How to pronounce terminus (audio)
plural termini -ˌnī How to pronounce terminus (audio)
-ˌnē
or terminuses
1
: final goal : finishing point
2
: a post or stone marking a boundary
3
a
: either end of a transportation line or travel route
b
: the station or town at such a place

Medical Definition

terminus

noun
ter·​mi·​nus ˈtər-mə-nəs How to pronounce terminus (audio)
plural termini -ˌnī How to pronounce terminus (audio) -ˌnē How to pronounce terminus (audio) also terminuses
: an end or ending especially of a molecular chain, a chromosome, or a process of a nerve cell
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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