Where does “term of years” come from?
term of years (English) comes from English term, from English terminal, from French terminal, from Latin terminalis, from Latin Terminus, from Proto-Indo-European ter-, from Italian termine, from Latin terminus — boundary, end.
term of years (English): An estate in land held under a lease which is not perpetual or indefinite in length, though in some cases may be contingent on some guaranteed occurrence
Definitions
- An estate in land held under a lease which is not perpetual or indefinite in length, though in some cases may be contingent on some guaranteed occurrence
Ancestry of “term of years”, step by step
term of years traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English term
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | term | That which limits the extent of anything; limit,... |
| 2 | English | terminal | A building in an airport where passengers... |
| 3 | French | terminal | terminal |
| 4 | Latin | terminalis | boundary; terminal; final, concluding |
| 5 | Latin | Terminus | the deity presiding over boundaries; a personification of the term terminus |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ter- | tender, weak; young creature |
| 7 | Italian | termine | end, close; limit, term, date, time; term, word |
| 8 | Latin | terminus | a boundary, limit, end |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | termenos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | térmn̥ | boundary, end |