Terminate

//ˈtɜːmɪneɪt// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To end something, especially when left in an incomplete state. transitive

    "to terminate a process before its completion"

  2. 2
    bring to an end or halt wordnet
  3. 3
    To conclude. transitive
  4. 4
    terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position wordnet
  5. 5
    To set or be a limit or boundary to. transitive

    "to terminate a surface by a line"

Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical wordnet
  2. 7
    To form an appropriate end on (a wire, cable, hose, pipe, etc), such as by applying a cable terminal or a hose ferrule. transitive

    "We'll rough them all in before we start terminating any of them."

  3. 8
    be the end of; be the last or concluding part of wordnet
  4. 9
    To end the employment contract of an employee; to fire, lay off. transitive
  5. 10
    To kill someone or something. euphemistic, transitive

    "The enemy must be terminated by any means possible."

  6. 11
    To end, conclude, or cease; to come to an end. intransitive

    "She unlocked the casket which contained her mother's picture, and gazed even more earnestly than usual on that beautiful face; its frank, glad smile was too painful; it seemed an omen of all that could make a joyous and beloved existence; and yet how had her's terminated!"

  7. 12
    Of a mode of transport, to end its journey; or, of a railway line, to reach its terminus. intransitive

    "This train terminates at the next station."

  8. 13
    To issue or result. intransitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    Terminated; limited; bounded; ended.
  2. 2
    Having a definite and clear limit or boundary; having a determinate size, shape or magnitude.

    "Mountains on the Moon cast shadows that are very dark, terminate and more distinct than those cast by mountains on the Earth."

  3. 3
    Expressible in a finite number of terms; (of a decimal) not recurring or infinite.

    "One third is a recurring decimal, but one half is a terminate decimal."

Synonyms

All synonyms
discontinueendfirefiresackstop

Example

More examples

"Enos became the first chimp to orbit the earth on November 29, 1961, aboard a Mercury Atlas rocket. Although the mission plan originally called for three orbits, due to a malfunctioning thruster and other technical difficulties, flight controllers were forced to terminate Enos' flight after two orbits. Enos landed in the recovery area and was picked up 75 minutes after splashdown. He was found to be in good overall condition."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English terminaten (“to bring to an end; to adjudicate; to end, stop; to border, confine, contain”) from terminat(e) (“bounded”, also used as the past participle of terminaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin terminātus, perfect passive participle of terminō (“to set bounds to, bound, limit, end, close, terminate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from terminus (“a bound, limit, end”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); see term, terminus. Doublet of termine, cognate with French terminer.

Etymology 2

From Middle English terminat(e) (“bounded”, also used as the past participle of terminaten), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Related phrases

self-terminateterminate with extreme prejudicethought-terminating clichélay off

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.