terminus
terminus Lexical Profile
terminus Game Scores & Validity
• noun
British The final station or stop at the end of a railway line, bus route, or other transportation network.
"All remaining passengers had to disembark when the commuter train arrived at the central terminus."
A final point in space or time; an extremity, boundary, or goal toward which something moves or develops.
"The rocky coastal headland marks the eastern terminus of the long-distance hiking trail."
Either of the two free ends of a linear polymer, polypeptide chain, or chromosome (in biochemistry and molecular biology).
"Researchers attached a fluorescent tag to the carboxyl terminus of the protein to track its movement inside the cell."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'terminus' and 'terminal' both refer to the end of a transport route, 'terminus' (chiefly British) emphasizes the final stop on a railway or bus line, whereas 'terminal' more broadly denotes a large station building or airport passenger facility.
• Rhymes for terminus
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-16th century directly from Latin 'terminus', meaning 'a boundary, limit, or end', which also personified Terminus, the Roman deity who protected boundary markers.