terminate

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb bring to an end or halt
  2. verb have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical
  3. verb be the end of; be the last or concluding part of

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

end

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