TERMINAL

I. adjective Etymology: Latin ~is, from terminus Date: 1744 1. of or relating to an end, extremity, boundary, or terminus , growing at the end of a branch or stem , 2. of, relating to, or occurring in a term or each term , b. leading ultimately to death ; fatal , approaching or close to death ; being in the final stages of a fatal disease , of or relating to patients with a ~ illness , extremely or hopelessly severe , 3. occurring at or constituting the end of a period or series ; concluding , not intended as preparation for further academic work , see: last ~ly adverb II. noun Date: 1838 a part that forms the end ; extremity , termination , a terminating usually ornamental detail ; finial , a device attached to the end of a wire or cable or to an electrical apparatus for convenience in making connections, 4. either end of a carrier line having facilities for the handling of freight and passengers, a freight or passenger station that is central to a considerable area or serves as a junction at any point with other lines, a town or city at the end of a carrier line ; terminus , a combination of a keyboard and output device (as a video display unit) by which data can be entered into or output from a computer or electronic communications system