Etimology
From Middle English terme, borrowed from Old French terme, from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end; in Medieval Latin, also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”). Doublet of terminus and termon. Old English had termen, from the same source.
noun
term (plural terms)
That which limits the extent of anything; limit, extremity, bound, boundary, terminus.
A chronological limitation or restriction, a limited timespan.
Any of the binding conditions or promises in a legal contract.
Specifically, the conditions in a legal contract that specify the price and also how and when payment must be made.
(geometry, archaic) A point, line, or superficies that limits.
A word or phrase (e.g., noun phrase, verb phrase, open compound), especially one from a specialised area of knowledge; a name for a concept.
Relations among people.
Part of a year, especially one of the divisions of an academic year.
Duration of officeholding, or its limit; period in office of fixed length.
With respect to a pregnancy, the period during which birth usually happens (approximately 40 weeks from conception).
(of a patent) The maximum period during which the patent can be maintained into force.
(archaic) A menstrual period.
(mathematics) Any value (variable or constant) or expression separated from another term by a space or an appropriate character, in an overall expression or table.
(logic) The subject or the predicate of a proposition; one of the three component parts of a syllogism, each one of which is used twice.
(astrology) An essential dignity in which unequal segments of every astrological sign have internal rulerships which affect the power and integrity of each planet in a natal chart.
(art) A statue of the upper body, sometimes without the arms, ending in a pillar or pedestal. [from 17th c.]
(nautical) A piece of carved work placed under each end of the taffrail.
Examples
Corruption is a reciprocal to generation, and they two are as nature's two terms, or boundaries.
At the decline of day,Winding above the mountain’s snowy term,New banners shone: […]
"Alright, look...we can spend the holidays with your parents, but this time it will be on my terms."
The term of a lease agreement is the period of time during which the lease is effective, and may be fixed, periodic, or of indefinite duration.
Be sure to read the terms and conditions before signing.
Q: What are your company's terms? A: Net thirty, cash or check. [This answer means that the net total must be paid within 30 days; see Net D.]
The latest models are available now, on the lowest terms you'll find anywhere, guaranteed.
The Cabin is large and commodious, well calculated for the Accommodation of Paſengers. Merchandiſe, Produce, &c. carried on the loweſt Terms.
A line is the term of a superficies, and a superficies is the term of a solid.
"Algorithm" is a term used in computer science.
The noun phrase "red blood cell", the acronym "RBC", and the word "erythrocyte" are synonymous terms.
We are on friendly terms with each other.
Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. […] Next day she […] tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and had perhaps spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.
He was sentenced to a term of six years in prison.
near-term, mid-term and long-term goals
the term allowed to a debtor to discharge his debt
“I don’t believe that the people trust Netanyahu to lead when he is under the burden of such a devastating event that just happened under his term,” he told the Observer.
at term
preterm
postterm
My wife, after the absence of her terms for seven weeks, gave me hopes of her being with child, but on the last day of the year she hath them again.
All the terms of this sum cancel out.
One only term is odd in .
The subject and predicate of a proposition are, after Aristotle, together called its terms or extremes.
The pillers that haue bolſtered vp thoſe tearmes,Are falne in cluſters at my conquering feet.
You have been already informed, I have no doubt, of the subject which we have chosen: the adorning a Term of Hymen with festoons of flowers.
Related words
hyponyms
blanket term
collective term
umbrella term
(part of a year): trimester, semester, quarter
related terms
terminal
terminate
terminographer
terminography
terminologic
terminological
terminologically
terminology
verb
term (third-person singular simple present terms, present participle terming, simple past and past participle termed)
(transitive) To phrase a certain way; to name or call.
Examples
Abstraction or prescision ought to be carefully distinguished from two other modes of mental separation, which may be termed discrimination and dissociation.
The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.
Related words
synonyms
describe as, designate, dub, name, refer to; see also Thesaurus:denominate
adjective
term (not comparable)
(medicine, colloquial) Born or delivered at term.
Examples
term neonate
Etimology
Clipping of terminal.
noun
term (plural terms)
(computing, informal) A computer program that emulates a physical terminal.
Etimology
Short for terminate, termination, terminated employee, etc.
verb
term (third-person singular simple present terms, present participle terming, simple past and past participle termed)
(transitive, intransitive) To terminate one's employment
Related words
synonyms
axe, fire, sack; see also Thesaurus:lay off
noun
term (plural terms)
One whose employment has been terminated