# term

Pronunciation: say "TURM" US /tɝm/, UK /tɜːm/

## Noun

1. A word or phrase, especially one from a specialized field of knowledge, used as the name for a concept.
   - Simple: A word or phrase that names something, especially in a particular field of knowledge.
   - _Engineers reach for a precise term when an everyday word would be too vague._
   - _Linguists borrow many terms from Greek and Latin._
2. A limited or fixed period of time, especially one set as a limit, such as the period a policy, loan, or patent remains in force.
   - Simple: A fixed length of time that something lasts, such as a loan, an insurance policy, or a patent.
   - _The insurance policy runs for a fixed term of ten years._
   - _Negotiators agreed to extend the term of the trade agreement._
3. The length of time a person holds an office, or the limit set on it.
   - Simple: The fixed length of time someone holds a public office.
   - _The senator is serving her third term in office._
   - _Several lawmakers want to limit each governor to two terms._
4. The conditions or requirements of a contract or agreement, including those that set the price and how and when payment must be made.
   - Simple: The rules or conditions of an agreement, such as what each side must do or how much to pay and when.
   - _The contract included a term requiring both parties to keep the details private._
   - _She objected to one term that allowed the company to cancel without notice._
5. One of the periods into which the year is divided, especially for teaching at a school or university or for the sitting of courts of law.
   - Simple: One of the parts of the year when a school, college, or court is open and working.
   - _She struggled in math during the fall term._
   - _The college splits its calendar into two long terms._
6. The state of the relations or dealings between people.
   - Simple: The way people get along with each other.
   - _The brothers remained on good terms despite the inheritance dispute._
   - _Rival companies stayed on cordial terms throughout the negotiations._
9. The normal length of gestation for a species, or the point at which birth is expected.
   - Simple: The normal length of a pregnancy, or the time when a baby is due to be born.
   - _Her pregnancy went to full term without complications._
   - _Twins are often delivered before term._
8. A number or expression forming a separate part of a sum or difference, joined to the others by a plus or minus sign.
   - Simple: One of the parts of a math expression that are separated by plus or minus signs.
   - _Each term in the polynomial is separated by a plus or minus sign._
   - _In the expression 3x + 5x + 2, the first two terms can be added to make 8x._
11. In logic, the subject or predicate of a proposition, or one of the three parts of a syllogism, each used twice.
   - Simple: In logic, a main part of a statement: the thing talked about or what is said about it.
   - _Every categorical proposition joins a subject term to a predicate term._
   - _The middle term appears in both premises but not in the conclusion._

## Verb

7. To name or describe something using a particular word or phrase.
   - Simple: To give something a name or describe it in a certain way.
   - _Scientists term the process by which plants make food photosynthesis._
   - _Historians have termed the era a golden age._
12. To terminate something, especially to end someone's employment or to delete a user's account on a website or online service. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To end something, especially to fire a worker or delete someone's online account.
   - _The company termed half its support staff after the merger fell through._
   - _If sales stay this low, the regional office may term several managers._

## Adjective

10. Born or delivered at the normal completion of pregnancy.
   - Simple: Born at the normal end of a full pregnancy.
   - _A term infant typically requires less monitoring than a premature one._
   - _The newborn was term and breathing well on her own._

## Noun

13. A woman's monthly menstrual period. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A woman's monthly menstrual bleeding.

## Other meanings

- (noun) That which marks the limit of something; its boundary, end, or furthest point, including a point, line, or surface bounding a figure.
- (noun) Any of certain fixed days of the year on which rent falls due.
- (noun) A person whose employment has been ended.
- (noun) A computer program that imitates the behavior of a physical terminal.
- (noun) A sculpture of the upper body, sometimes armless, that ends below in a tapering pillar or pedestal.
- (noun) An essential dignity in which unequal parts of each astrological sign have their own planetary rulerships, affecting the power and integrity of each planet in a natal chart.
- (noun) A piece of carved work fixed under each end of the taffrail, the rail across a ship's stern.

## Origin

English term developed from Middle English terme, a borrowing of Old French terme. The French word descended from Latin terminus, meaning a boundary, limit or end. In Medieval Latin, terminus also meant a time, period or word. Its ancestry reaches back to Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥, meaning a stump, end or boundary. Old English also had termen, from the same Latin source.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/term (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).