terminate.
To end something, especially when left in an incomplete state.
Meaning & usage
To end something, especially when left in an incomplete state.
to terminate a process before its completion
to terminate an effort, or a controversy
To conclude.
To set or be a limit or boundary to.
to terminate a surface by a line
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.
To end the employment contract of an employee; to fire, lay off.
To kill someone or something.
The enemy must be terminated by any means possible.
To end, conclude, or cease; to come to an end.
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.
To issue or result.
Where this word comes from
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.
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.
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.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English terminat(e) (“bounded”, also used as the past participle of terminaten), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.