adj. & n.
--adj.
1. a (of a disease) ending in death, fatal. b (of a patient) in the last stage of a fatal disease. c (of a morbid condition) forming the last stage of a fatal disease. d colloq. ruinous, disastrous, very great (terminal laziness).
2 of or forming a limit or terminus (terminal station).
3 a Zool. etc. ending a series (terminal joints). b Bot. borne at the end of a stem etc.
4 of or done etc. each term (terminal accounts; terminal examinations).
--n.
1. a terminating thing; an extremity.
2 a terminus for trains or long-distance buses.
3 a departure and arrival building for air passengers.
4 a point of connection for closing an electric circuit.
5 an apparatus for transmission of messages between a user and a computer, communications system, etc.
6 (in full terminal figure) TERMINUS 6.
7 an installation where oil is stored at the end of a pipeline or at a port.
8 a patient suffering from a terminal illness.
Phrases and idioms:
terminal velocity a velocity of a falling body such that the resistance of the air etc. prevents further increase of speed under gravity.
Derivatives:
terminally adv.
Etymology: L terminalis (as TERMINUS)