Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “terminal” come from?

Terminal derives from Latin terminalis, formed from terminus meaning "boundary" or "end" and the Latin suffix -alis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ter-.

terminal (English): A building in an airport where passengers...

Definitions

  1. A building in an airport where passengers...

Ancestry of “terminal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchterminalterminal
2Latinterminalisboundary; terminal; final, concluding
3LatinTerminus—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanter-tender, weak; young creature
5Italiantermineend, close; limit, term, date, time; term, word
6Latinterminusa boundary, limit, end
7Proto-Italictermenos—
8Proto-Indo-Europeantérmn̥boundary, end

Words derived from “terminal”

  • terminally
  • nonterminal
  • subterminal
  • preterminal
  • carboxyterminal
  • multiterminal
  • terminality
  • coterminal
  • carboxylterminal
  • intraterminal
  • subterminally
  • monoterminal
  • biterminal
  • paraterminal
  • pseudoterminal
  • interterminal
  • nonterminally
  • abterminal
  • videoterminal
  • non-terminal
  • midterminal
  • terminalize
  • triterminal
  • ターミナル
Every word from Proto-Indo-European térmn̥ →