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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

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Etymology

Origin of terminus

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

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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

But a curious pattern has emerged in recent years: Multiple major landslides have occurred precisely at the terminus of a retreating glacier.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

The port was constructed as the terminus of a planned $25 billion economic corridor, with roads, rail and an oil pipeline linking Lamu to landlocked South Sudan and Ethiopia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

It is now an attraction for visitors to the nearby DMZ separating the two countries, and the line's former terminus -- Wonsan -- lies in North Korea.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

Fujairah is the terminus of an oil pipeline that allows the UAE to export without going through Hormuz and has big oil storage facilities.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

In the space of ten years, new railroad lines were laid, track by track, four thousand miles, sprawling east, west, south, and north from the central terminus: Chicago.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

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

Federal records show that water releases from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Lake Success jumped early Friday morning.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 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

The giant stepped on the statue and broke Terminus in three pieces—pedestal, body, and head.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

This weekend's timetable change affects all valley line routes and includes the introduction of new and additional services, amended routes and new termini for most trains.

From BBC ● May 30, 2024

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

It also has termini at Victoria and Kensington. 

From Collins' Illustrated Guide to London and Neighbourhood by Anonymous

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

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 John Trevena

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

From Desert Dust by J. Clinton Shepherd

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