Term Definition

term

English

Etymology

From Middle English terme, from Old French terme, from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end, in Medieval Latin also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) enPR: tûrm, IPA: /tɜːm/, SAMPA: /t3:m/
• (US) enPR: tûrm, IPA: /tɝm/, SAMPA: /t3`m/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)m

Noun

term (plural terms)

1. limitation, restriction or regulation.

   terms and conditions

2. word or phrase, especially one from a specialised area of knowledge.
3. Relations among people.

   We are on friendly terms with each other.

4. part of a year, especially one of the three parts of an academic year.
5. (mathematics) any value (variable or constant) or expression separated from another term by a + or - sign in an overall expression

   All of these terms cancel out.

6. duration of a set length; period in office of fixed length.

   He was sentenced to a term of six years in prison.

   near-term, mid-term and long-term goals

7. (computing) a terminal emulator, a program that emulates a video terminal
8. (of a patent) the maximum period during which the patent can be maintained into force
9. (astrology) an essential dignity in which unequal segments of every astrological sign have internal rulerships which affect the power and integrity of each planet in a natal chart
10. (archaic) a menstrual period.
    • 1660, Samuel Pepys Diary

      My wife, after the absence of her terms for seven weeks, gave me hopes of her being with child, but on the last day of the year she hath them again.

Derived terms

Related terms

• terminal
• terminate

See also

• idiom
• lexeme
• listeme
• word

Verb

term (third-person singular simple present terms, present participle terming, simple past and past participle termed)

1. To phrase a certain way, especially with an unusual wording.
   • 1867, Charles Sanders Peirce, On a New List of Categories:

     Abstraction or prescision ought to be carefully distinguished from two other modes of mental separation, which may be termed discrimination and dissociation.

External links

• term in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• term in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Dutch

Noun

term m. (plural termen, diminutive termpje, diminutive plural termpjes)

1. term; A word or phrase, especially one from a specialised area of knowledge.
2. (mathematics) term; One of the addends in a sum

Anagrams

• remt

Swedish

Noun

term c.

1. a term^[1] (a well-defined word or phrase, in a terminology)
2. (mathematics) a term^[2] (an operand in addition or subtraction)
3. singular of termer (“thermae, Roman baths”) (a facility for bathing in ancient Rome)

Declension

Related terms

• fackterm
• termbank
• terminologi

References

1. ^ term in Rikstermbanken
2. ^ term in Rikstermbanken

Related 'Term' Searches:

See Also:

• Almond Jelly
• Balm
• Economy of Belize
• Express (Data Modeling Language)
• Fauna of Europe
• Glossary of Musical Terminology
• Neonatal Jaundice
• Price Comparative Index
• Propane
• Stevedturner