termination

American  

[tur-muh-nay-shuhn] / ˌtɜr məˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

• terminations
  plural

1. the act of terminating

2. the fact of being terminated.

3. the place or part where anything terminates; bound or limit.

4. an end or extremity; close or conclusion.

5. an issue or result.

6. Grammar. a suffix or ending.

7. an ending of employment with a specific employer.

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termination British  

/ ˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of terminating or the state of being terminated

2. something that terminates

3. a final result

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Usage

What does termination mean? Termination is the act of bringing something to an end or the physical end of something. Termination is the noun form of the verb terminate, meaning to bring an end to. It also means to fire someone from a job, and termination is perhaps most commonly used as a way to refer to this process or its result, as in His employment with the company ended in termination. Example: The termination of the program last year hurt the many people who relied on its benefits.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nontermination
  noun
• terminational
  adjective
• unterminational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• terminations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of termination

1400–50; late Middle English terminacion < Latin terminātiōn- (stem of terminātiō ) decision. See terminate, -ion

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Explanation

Whether it refers to getting fired from a job, a contract running out, or the assassination of a deep-cover spy, termination is "the end of the line." You may be familiar with a certain time-traveling cyborg assassin, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. His character was a "terminator," in a movie of the same name, and his goal was the termination of Sarah Connor. Lucky for Sarah, and the supposed future of our planet, the termination was unsuccessful. In the real world, you're more likely to see the word termination used when a contract, program, or job comes to an end, unexpectedly or as planned.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

termination terminations

Six months after the board heard their concerns, the three employees sued the organization for retaliation and wrongful termination.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

A woman whose baby was too ill to be born is calling for better awareness of choosing a termination for medical reasons.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

What if I find things that I think need termination or people who aren’t performing?’

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

That’s where I’m stuck, and where I’m hoping you can help: Is there any meaningful recourse against an administrator that provides essentially no notice before a network termination like this?

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 12, 2026

“The sanitary condition of the expedition was good, and the quantity of provisions still existing was sufficient to assure us the termination of the voyage without scarcity of food.”

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

Meanwhile, the right also covers women and their partners who experience a pregnancy loss, including miscarriage, terminations and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfers.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

Some terminations were announced at or after the expiration date.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

The company said it took several personnel actions with respect to employees within its sales, technical support and business development functions, including terminations, for failure to follow company policies or the company’s code of conduct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

The merit board alone reported 20,335 pending appeals that year, four times its usual load, filed by workers swept out in the mass terminations, and with Harris gone it could decide none of them.

From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026

The "–cene" terminations were thus something of a compromise.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

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Related Words

• completion
• expiry

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