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terminus ad quem

American  
[ter-mi-noos ahd kwem, tur-muh-nuhs ad kwem] / ˈtɛr mɪˌnʊs ɑd ˈkwɛm, ˈtɜr mə nəs æd ˈkwɛm /

noun

Latin.
  1. the end to which; aim; goal; final or latest limiting point.


terminus ad quem British  
/ ˈtɜːmɪˌnʊs æd ˈkwɛm /

noun

  1. the aim or terminal point

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of terminus ad quem

literally: the end to which

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Cognition, whenever we take it concretely, means determinate 'ambulation,' through intermediaries, from a terminus a quo to, or towards, a terminus ad quem.

From Meaning of Truth by James, William

The two termini of the importation, here spoken of, are a foreign country and the American Union—the first the terminus a quo, the second the terminus ad quem.

From American Eloquence, Volume 2 Studies In American Political History (1896) by Johnston, Alexander

This is the only terminus ad quem, so far as I am aware, which is absolutely decisive; and it would allow of a ministry of eight years.

From Essays on the work entitled "Supernatural Religion" by Lightfoot, Joseph Barber

A terminus ad quem is essential to the perfection of exercise, bodily or mental.

From From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life by Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer)

Condemned though they be by some thinkers, these sensations are the mother-earth, the anchorage, the stable rock, the first and last limits, the terminus a quo and the terminus ad quem of the mind.

From The pragmatic theory of truth as developed by Peirce, James, and Dewey by Geyer, Delton Loring

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