terminate

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
11
Words With Friends
13
Letters
9
Pronunciation
/ˈtɜːmɪneɪ̯t/
See all 4 pronunciations
/ˈtɜːmɪneɪ̯t/ · /ˈtɝmɪneɪ̯t/ · /ˈtɝmɪnət/ · /ˈtɜːmɪnət/

Definition of terminate

12 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

verb

  1. (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”
    “During this interval of calm and prosperity, he terminated two figures of slaves, destined for the tomb, in an incomparable style of art.”
See all 12 definitions

verb

  1. (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”
    “During this interval of calm and prosperity, he terminated two figures of slaves, destined for the tomb, in an incomparable style of art.”
  2. (transitive)To conclude.
  3. (transitive)To set or be a limit or boundary to.
    “to terminate a surface by a line”
  4. (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.”
  5. (transitive)To end the employment contract of an employee; to fire, lay off.
  6. (euphemistic, transitive)To kill someone or something.
    “The enemy must be terminated by any means possible.”
  7. (intransitive)To end, conclude, or cease; to come to an end.
    “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!”
  8. (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.”
    “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.”
    “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.”
  9. (intransitive)To issue or result.

adj

  1. Terminated; limited; bounded; ended.
  2. 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.”
  3. 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.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English terminaten (“to bring to an end; to adjudicate; to end, stop; to border, confine, contain”) from terminat(e) (“bounded”, also used as the past participle of terminaten) +…

See full etymology

From Middle English terminaten (“to bring to an end; to adjudicate; to end, stop; to border, confine, contain”) from terminat(e) (“bounded”, also used as the past participle of terminaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin terminātus, perfect passive participle of terminō (“to set bounds to, bound, limit, end, close, terminate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from terminus (“a bound, limit, end”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); see term, terminus. Doublet of termine, cognate with French terminer.

Words you can make from terminate

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