# terminal

Pronunciation: say "TUR-mi-nuhl" US /ˈtɚmɪnəl/, UK /ˈtɜːmɪnəl/

## Noun

1. A building at an airport where passengers move from ground transportation to the gates and facilities that let them board planes.
   - Simple: The part of an airport where travelers wait, check in, and board their planes.
   - _Passengers arriving at the terminal followed the signs toward the security checkpoint._
   - _The airport's second terminal handles all of its international departures._
2. A device for entering data into a computer or communication system and displaying data received, typically equipped with a keyboard and a textual display.
   - Simple: A machine with a keyboard and screen used to put information into a computer or see what it sends back.
   - _The clerk entered each booking on a terminal connected to the central database._
   - _Every terminal in the room showed the same data fed from the mainframe._
4. A railroad station where train service begins and ends; the end of the line.
   - Simple: A train station at the end of a line, where trains start and finish their trips.
   - _Every train on the route returns to the terminal at the end of its run._
   - _The old railway terminal downtown has been converted into a museum._
5. The end of a wire or cable where signals or power are transmitted or received, or a point along it where they are made available; also the hardware fixed there to fasten connections.
   - Simple: A point on a wire or cable where electricity or signals enter or leave, with a part for connecting.
   - _The technician tightened the loose wire on the output terminal._
   - _Signals leave the device through a single terminal at the end of the cable._
6. A harbor facility where ferries take on and let off passengers and load and unload vehicles.
   - Simple: A place at a harbor where ferries pick up and drop off people, cars, and trucks.
   - _Cars lined up at the terminal long before the ferry arrived._
   - _The new ferry terminal can load two ships at once._
7. Either of the metal contacts on a battery to which a circuit is connected in order to draw or supply power.
   - Simple: One of the two metal contacts on a battery where wires connect.
   - _Corrosion on the negative terminal kept the engine from turning over._
   - _She wiped the battery terminals clean before reconnecting the cables._
8. A computer program that imitates a physical terminal, providing a text interface for typing commands and viewing output.
   - Simple: A program that acts like an old computer terminal, letting you type commands and read text.
   - _Developers often keep a terminal open beside their code editor._
   - _He connected to the remote server through a terminal on his desktop._
11. A device through which signals carried by a line can be sent, received, or both.
   - Simple: A device, like a telephone or computer, that sends or receives signals over a line.
   - _The operator watched data arrive at the terminal from a remote station._
   - _Every terminal on the line can both transmit and receive packets._
12. A storage tank for bulk liquids such as oil or chemicals, holding them before further distribution.
   - Simple: A large tank where oil, chemicals, or other liquids are kept before being sent on.
   - _The company built a new terminal to store crude before it moves to the refinery._
   - _The chemicals sit in the terminal for weeks until distribution schedules clear._
13. The branching end of an axon, or one of the extremities of a polypeptide chain.
   - Simple: The end part of a nerve fiber, or one of the tips of a protein chain.
   - _Neurotransmitters are released from the axon terminal into the synaptic gap._
   - _Researchers labeled one terminal of the polypeptide to track how it folds._
14. A symbol in a formal grammar that cannot be rewritten further, forming part of the final strings the grammar generates.
   - Simple: A basic letter or sign in a grammar's rules that cannot be broken down further.
   - _The grammar reduces each terminal directly to a token taken from the input._
   - _A string of terminals remains once all the rules have been applied._
15. A charge applied to all freight regardless of distance, meant to cover the cost of station service rather than the movement itself.
   - Simple: A flat fee charged on goods no matter how far they travel, covering the cost of station handling.
   - _Because the terminal applied to every consignment alike, distance played no part in that portion of the bill._
   - _The railway's terminal covered loading and unloading, while the mileage rate paid for the journey itself._
16. A town lying at the end of a railroad line, where the end station is located, though it is more properly called a terminus.
   - Simple: A town at the end of a railroad line, where the last station sits.
   - _The terminal at the end of the line swelled with traders waiting for the next train west._
   - _Maps marked the terminal as the final town the railroad reached before the mountains._

## Adjective

3. Of a disease or condition, certain to cause death; fatal.
   - Simple: Likely to cause death, with no chance of getting better.
   - _After the diagnosis turned out to be terminal, she chose to travel while she still could._
   - _The clinic specializes in caring for patients with terminal illnesses._
9. Located at the end, top, or apex of a physical object.
   - Simple: Found at the end, tip, or top of something.
   - _The terminal bud at the top of the stem produces the plant's main growth._
   - _Each branch ends in a terminal cluster of leaves._
10. Occurring at the end of a word, sentence, or stretch of time, and serving to bring it to a close.
   - Simple: Coming at the very end of something and bringing it to a close.
   - _In many languages a terminal consonant changes how the vowel before it sounds._
   - _The terminal beat of the measure receives a slight emphasis from the conductor._

## Verb

17. To hold oil, chemicals, or other liquids in large tanks at a depot as a stage between production and onward shipment.
   - Simple: To keep oil, chemicals, or other liquids in tanks before sending them on.
   - _Operators terminal the oil at the coast until tankers arrive to carry it abroad._
   - _Refiners often terminal their chemicals close to major shipping routes._

## Adjective

18. Occurring once in each term, recurring regularly as one term follows another. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Happening once each term, like every school or court term.
   - _The board met for its terminal review whenever a term drew to a close._
   - _Students took the terminal assessment that came around at the end of every term._

## Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin "terminalis" (relating to a boundary or to the end), which comes from Latin "terminus" (a bound, boundary, limit, or end).

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