terminate
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin terminātus, past participle of terminō (“I set bounds to, bound, limit, end, close, terminate”), from terminus (“a bound, limit, end”); see term, terminus. Doublet of termine.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɝmɪneɪt/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɜːmɪneɪt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Hyphenation: ter‧mi‧nate
Verb
terminate (third-person singular simple present terminates, present participle terminating, simple past and past participle terminated)
- (transitive) To end something, especially when left in an incomplete state.
- to terminate a process before its completion
- to terminate an effort, or a controversy
- 1857, John Scandrett Harford, The Life of Michael Angelo Buonarroti:
- During this interval of calm and prosperity, he terminated two figures of slaves, destined for the tomb, in an incomparable style of art.
- (transitive) To conclude.
- (transitive) To set or be a limit or boundary to.
- to terminate a surface by a line
- (transitive) To form an appropriate end on (a wire, cable, hose, pipe, etc), such as by applying a cable terminal or a hose ferrule.
- We'll rough them all in before we start terminating any of them.
- (transitive) To end the employment contract of an employee; to fire, lay off.
- (transitive, euphemistic) To kill someone or something.
- The enemy must be terminated by any means possible.
- (intransitive) To end, conclude, or cease; to come to an end.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 102:
- She unlocked the casket which contained her mother's picture, and gazed even more earnestly than usual on that beautiful face; its frank, glad smile was too painful; it seemed an omen of all that could make a joyous and beloved existence; and yet how had her's terminated!
- (intransitive) Of a mode of transport, to end its journey; or, of a railway line, to reach its terminus.
- This train terminates at the next station.
- 1960 March, H. P. White, “The Hawkhurst branch of the Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 170:
- It is a branch that climbs for 11½ miles into the picturesque Wealden hills until, apparently exhausted by the effort, it terminates a mile short of the village of Hawkhurst.
- 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 67:
- After dropping off travellers at Foregate Street, my train terminates at Shrub Hill - a station which boasts one of the best selection [sic] of semaphore signals left in the country.
- (intransitive) To issue or result.
Synonyms
- (to end incompletely): discontinue, stop, break off
- (to kill): See also Thesaurus:kill
- (to end the employment contract): axe, fire, sack; see also Thesaurus:lay off
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “to end incompletely”): continue
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to end something, especially when left in an incomplete state — see also end
|
to set or be a limit or boundary to
to kill someone or something — see also kill
|
|
of a mode of transport, to end its journey; or, of a railway line, to reach its terminus
|
See also
Adjective
terminate (comparative more terminate, superlative most terminate)
- Terminated; limited; bounded; ended.
- Having a definite and clear limit or boundary; having a determinate size, shape or magnitude.
- Mountains on the Moon cast shadows that are very dark, terminate and more distinct than those cast by mountains on the Earth.
- (mathematics) Expressible in a finite number of terms; (of a decimal) not recurring or infinite.
- One third is a recurring decimal, but one half is a terminate decimal.
Translations
References
- John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “terminate”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.
Further reading
- “terminate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “terminate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “terminate”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Anagrams
Etymology 1
Verb
terminate
- inflection of terminare:
Etymology 2
Participle
terminate f pl
Anagrams
Verb
termināte
References
- “terminate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Verb
terminate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of terminar combined with te
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