terminal

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terminal

  • /ˈtɜːmɪnəl/ UK
  • /ˈtɝmɪnəl/ Canada, US
  • /ˈtɜːmɪnəl/ Australia
  • /ˈtøːmənəl/ New Zealand

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Late Latin terminalis (“pertaining to a boundary or to the end, terminal, final”), from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end”). See term, terminus.

noun terminals

  1. A building in an airport where passengers transfer from ground transportation to the facilities that allow them to board airplanes. Terminal 1 is for domestic flights, whereas Terminal 2 is for international flights.
  2. A harbour facility where ferries embark and disembark passengers and load and unload vehicles.
  3. A rail station where service begins and ends; the end of the line. For example: Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
  4. A rate charged on all freight, regardless of distance, and supposed to cover the expenses of station service, as distinct from mileage rate, generally proportionate to the distance and intended to cover movement expenses.
  5. A town lying at the end of a railroad, in which the terminal is located; more properly called a terminus.
  6. A storage tank for bulk liquids (such as oil or chemicals) prior to further distribution.
  7. The end of a line (wire, cable, etc) where signals or power are either transmitted or received, or a point along the length of a line where the signals or power are made available to apparatus; the hardware attached to the line in this spot, which allows connections to be fastened.
  8. An electric contact on a battery.
  9. The apparatus to send and/or receive signals on a line, such as a telephone or network device.
  10. A device for entering data into a computer or a communications system and/or displaying data received, especially a device equipped with a keyboard and some sort of textual display.
  11. A computer program that emulates a physical terminal.
  12. A terminal symbol in a formal grammar.
  13. The end ramification (of an axon, etc.) or one of the extremities of a polypeptide.
  14. A tile numbered 1 or 9.

adjective more terminal · most terminal

  1. Fatal; resulting in death. terminal cancer
  2. Appearing at the end; top or apex of a physical object.

    Similar: endly, final, late, endsome

  3. Occurring at the end of a word, sentence, or period of time, and serves to terminate it
  4. archaic Occurring every term; termly. a student's terminal fees

Opposite: non-terminal, early, initial

verb terminals · terminaling · terminalling · terminaled · terminalled

  1. To store bulk liquids (such as oil or chemicals) in storage tanks prior to further distribution.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pole, depot, closing, final, terminus, concluding, endmost, last, fatal, airport, concourse, port, ferry, station, crossing, passenger

adjective

Opposite: non-terminal, early, initial

Translations

Every language

noun computing - the end of a line of signals

Françaisterminal
Русскийтермина́л terminál

noun airport building

Españolterminal
한국어터미널 teomineol, 공항 터미널 gonghang teomineol
日本語ターミナル tāminaru, エアターミナル ea tāminaru, 空港ターミナル kūkō tāminaru
中文航站 hángzhàn, 航廈 /航厦 hángshà
Portuguêsterminal
Françaisterminal, aérogare
DeutschTerminal
Italianoterminal, terminale, aerostazione, aviostazione
Ελληνικάτερματικός σταθμός termatikós stathmós
Românăterminal
Русскийаэровокза́л aerovokzál, термина́л terminál
Tiếng Việtnhà ga
עבריתבֵּית נְתִיבוֹת bet netivót, טֶרְמִינָל términal

noun electronics

Españolterminal, borne, borna

noun last railway station on a line

한국어종착역 jongchagyeok, 종점 jongjeom
日本語終着駅 shūchakueki
中文終點站 /终点站 zhōngdiǎnzhàn, 總站 /总站 zǒngzhàn
Portuguêsterminal
Françaisterminus
DeutschEndbahnhof, Endstation
Românăterminus
Русскийконе́чная ста́нция konéčnaja stáncija

noun device for entering data into a computer

Españolterminal
한국어단말 danmal, 터미널 teomineol, 단말기 danmalgi
日本語端末 tanmatsu, ターミナル tāminaru, 端末機 tanmatsuki
中文終端機 /终端机 zhōngduānjī, 末端 mòduān
हिन्दीटर्मिनल ṭarminal
Portuguêsterminal
Françaisterminal
DeutschTerminal
Ελληνικάτερματικό termatikó
Românăterminal, periferic
Русскийтермина́л terminál

noun computer program that emulates a terminal

日本語ターミナル tāminaru
中文終端 /终端 zhōngduān
Portuguêsterminal
Françaisterminal
DeutschTerminal
Ελληνικάτερματικό termatikó
Русскийтермина́л terminál

adj resulting in death

日本語末期の makki no
Ελληνικάκαταληκτικός kataliktikós, μοιραίος moiraíos
Русскийсмерте́льный smertélʹnyj
עבריתסוֹפָנִי sofaní

adj appearing at the end

日本語末期の makki no
हिन्दीअंतिम antim, अंत्य antya
Françaisterminal
Ελληνικάτελικός telikós, ληκτικός liktikós, έσχατος éschatos
Русскийконе́чный konéčnyj

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Cite this
MLA

"terminal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/terminal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

terminal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/terminal

Chicago

"terminal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/terminal.

BibTeX
@misc{terminal_2026,
  title = {terminal},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/terminal},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}