terminate

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin terminātus, past participle of terminō (“I set bounds to, bound, limit, end, close, terminate”), from terminus (“a bound, limit, end”); see term, terminus. Doublet of termine.

verb

1. (transitive) To end something, especially when left in an incomplete state.
   to terminate a process before its completion
   to terminate an effort, or a controversy
   During this interval of calm and prosperity, he terminated two figures of slaves, destined for the tomb, in an incomparable style of art. 1857, John Scandrett Harford, The Life of Michael Angelo Buonarroti
2. (transitive) To conclude.
3. (transitive) To set or be a limit or boundary to.
   to terminate a surface by a line
4. (transitive, euphemistic) To kill someone or something.
   The enemy must be terminated by any means possible.
   When I defend my pro-choice position in the debate over abortion in our country, I frequently refer to Romania, where pregnancy could be monitored on behalf of the state, and to China, where it could be forcibly terminated. 2003, Hillary Rodham Clinton, “Prague Summer”, in Living History, →OCLC, page 354
5. (transitive) To end the employment contract of an employee; to fire, lay off.
6. (intransitive) To end, conclude, or cease; to come to an end.
7. (intransitive) 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.
   It is a branch that climbs for 11½ miles into the picturesque Wealden hills until, apparently exhausted by the effort, it terminates a mile short of the village of Hawkhurst. 1960 March, H. P. White, “The Hawkhurst branch of the Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 170
   After dropping off travellers at Foregate Street, my train terminates at Shrub Hill - a station which boasts one of the best selection [sic] of semaphore signals left in the country. December 2 2020, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 67
8. (intransitive) To issue or result.

adj

1. Terminated; limited; bounded; ended.
2. 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.
3. (mathematics) 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.