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• terminus
  terminus

  noun

  the end or extremity of anything.
• Terminus
  Terminus

  noun

  the Roman god of boundaries

terminus

American  

[tur-muh-nuhs] / ˈtɜr mə nəs /

noun

termini, plural terminuses plural

1. the end or extremity of anything.

2. either end of a railroad line.

3. British. the station or the town at the end of a railway or bus route.

4. the point toward which anything tends; goal or end.

5. a boundary or limit.

6. a boundary post or stone.

7. (initial capital letter) the ancient Roman god of boundaries and landmarks.

8. term.

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terminus ¹ British  

/ ˈtɜːmɪnəs /

noun

1. the last or final part or point

2. either end of a railway, bus route, etc, or a station or town at such a point

3. a goal aimed for

4. a boundary or boundary marker

5. architect another name for term

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Terminus ² British  

/ ˈtɜːmɪnəs /

noun

1. the Roman god of boundaries

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• termini
  plural
• terminuses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of terminus

1545–55; < Latin: boundary, limit, end

Explanation

Consider terminus the end of the line. Whether it describes a train station, a goal, or an era — terminus refers to something’s final point. Ancient Romans worshiped Terminus as the god of boundaries, even performing sacrifices in his honor to bless objects that marked borders. You probably don’t have to go that far if you just want to use the noun terminus. You can use it as a weighty way to indicate something is at the end of the line, such as the last stop on a bus or train route. It most often refers to the end of a transportation route, but it can also be used more generally to mark the end point of other things — such as a marriage or a project.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

terminus Terminus termini terminuses

It’s designed to be transit-oriented, as the grounds between the Santa Monica Pier and Bay Street will be steps from the E Line terminus, several major bus routes and a bike valet service.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

They are Dover's ferry port, Eurotunnel's Folkestone terminal, and Eurostar's St Pancras rail terminus.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

According to the study, Hektoria's terminus remained mostly stable after the sudden retreat, though nearby Green Glacier continued to shrink.

From Science Daily ● May 19, 2026

For this reason, it has grown into an important oil-loading and ship fuel-supplying hub and is the terminus for the Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline.

From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026

But the actual beach, the one he and the corporals gazed on now, was no more than a variation on all that had gone before: there was a rout, and this was its terminus.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

It isn’t clear what the price/earnings ratio will be for creating a real-life Terminus, which could take decades at best.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026

On the evening of Jan. 30, Army officials began opening gates and releasing flows from Schafer Dam and Terminus Dam, sending water coursing through river channels near Porterville and Visalia.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2025

In 2019, a footbridge near Mumbai’s historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus building buckled, killing six.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 31, 2022

Each buzzes with a light energy that masks the quiet sickness slowly taking hold of the hero until the situation in the final episode, forbiddingly titled "Terminus," makes it impossible to conceal.

From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2022

This ownerless ruin had, before World War Terminus, been tended and maintained.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

The results indicated random coils with termini lost excitation energy due to defects generated by fluctuations in solution, unlike toroids that were not easily deformed and exhibited fluorescence without energy loss.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 13, 2024

Built as the terminus for the Great Western Railway in 1854, it’s second only to St. Pancras among London termini in terms of heart-lifting delight.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022

That would capture streets around Glasgow’s busiest rail termini: Queen Street and Central stations.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 11, 2021

"Stations in a Loop or Hyperloop system are small in size and widely distributed in a network — very different from large-station termini considered for train systems," the company spokesman said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2018

Every seller is ex vi termini also a buyer; if, therefore production is doubled, purchasing power is also doubled.

From Principles of Political Economy, Vol. II by Roscher, Wilhelm

A chain-link fence spanned the terminuses of the complex’s four dead-end streets, behind which lay a dense patch of woods.

From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2021

It’s also near the terminuses of both the Cascadia Subduction Zone and the San Andreas Fault.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2016

In what should be one of the world's great rail terminuses, the locomotives themselves are hidden further underground.

From BBC ● May 27, 2015

Neither was Julesburg, or Sidney, or Cheyenne, when they was terminuses.

From Desert Dust by Shepherd, J. Clinton

I ha' started from terminuses, and I ha' stopped in 'em, so I knows what I'm telling about.

From A Drake by George! by Trevena, John