Terminus
Noun
- A final point in space or time; an end or extremity.
- (British English) The end of a railroad or other transportation route, or a station at such a point; a terminal.
- (Architecture) A figure of a human bust or an animal ending in a square pillar from which it appears to spring, originally used as a boundary marker in ancient Rome.
Example Sentences
“After 12 hours on the train, the sight of the city’s grand terminus felt like pure relief.”
“The project finally reached its terminus after months of late nights.”
“The museum’s sculpture gallery features a terminus of Hermes — half statue, half pillar.”
Word Origin
Latin, mid-16th century
Why this word?
An airport terminal is where you hang out waiting to board a plane, and in Britain, the word “terminus” is used for a station at the end of a railroad, or just the end of the railway itself. Both “terminus” and “terminal” come from the Latin for “end, limit, boundary.” In the mid-16th century, the word “terminus” entered English in a mathematical usage, denoting each of the two quantities composing a ratio or fraction. Today, the word is mostly used to refer to an end point or a finality.
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