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• terminus
  terminus

  noun

  the end or extremity of anything.
• Terminus
  Terminus

  noun

  the Roman god of boundaries

terminus

American  

[tur-muh-nuhs] / ˈtɜr mə nəs /

noun

• termini,
  plural
• terminuses
  plural

1. the end or extremity of anything.

2. either end of a railroad line.

3. British. the station or the town at the end of a railway or bus route.

4. the point toward which anything tends; goal or end.

5. a boundary or limit.

6. a boundary post or stone.

7. (initial capital letter) the ancient Roman god of boundaries and landmarks.

8. term.

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terminus ¹ British  

/ ˈtɜːmɪnəs /

noun

1. the last or final part or point

2. either end of a railway, bus route, etc, or a station or town at such a point

3. a goal aimed for

4. a boundary or boundary marker

5. architect another name for term

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Terminus ² British  

/ ˈtɜːmɪnəs /

noun

1. the Roman god of boundaries

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• termini
  plural
• terminuses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of terminus

1545–55; < Latin: boundary, limit, end

Explanation

Consider terminus the end of the line. Whether it describes a train station, a goal, or an era — terminus refers to something’s final point. Ancient Romans worshiped Terminus as the god of boundaries, even performing sacrifices in his honor to bless objects that marked borders. You probably don’t have to go that far if you just want to use the noun terminus. You can use it as a weighty way to indicate something is at the end of the line, such as the last stop on a bus or train route. It most often refers to the end of a transportation route, but it can also be used more generally to mark the end point of other things — such as a marriage or a project.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

terminus Terminus termini terminuses

It is now an attraction for visitors to the nearby DMZ separating the two countries, and the line's former terminus -- Wonsan -- lies in North Korea.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

It’s designed to be transit-oriented, as the grounds between the Santa Monica Pier and Bay Street will be steps from the E Line terminus, several major bus routes and a bike valet service.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

They would remain there, amid the dunes and dappled sunlight of Cape Cod’s hooked terminus, until Cook’s death in 2004.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

They are Dover's ferry port, Eurotunnel's Folkestone terminal, and Eurostar's St Pancras rail terminus.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

By retiring when he did, he avoided that fate, which would have established a precedent that smacked of monarchical longevity by permitting biology to set the terminus of his tenure.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

It isn’t clear what the price/earnings ratio will be for creating a real-life Terminus, which could take decades at best.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026

Federal records show that water releases from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Lake Success jumped early Friday morning.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2025

Photos on social media showed a red double-decker bus that had crashed into a passenger shelter at Terminus Place.

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2024

In 2019, a footbridge near Mumbai’s historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus building buckled, killing six.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 31, 2022

Hazel did what she was told, and they continued down the path, Terminus still shouting orders at them while Julia did cartwheels across the grass.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

The results indicated random coils with termini lost excitation energy due to defects generated by fluctuations in solution, unlike toroids that were not easily deformed and exhibited fluorescence without energy loss.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 13, 2024

Built as the terminus for the Great Western Railway in 1854, it’s second only to St. Pancras among London termini in terms of heart-lifting delight.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022

That would capture streets around Glasgow’s busiest rail termini: Queen Street and Central stations.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 11, 2021

"Stations in a Loop or Hyperloop system are small in size and widely distributed in a network — very different from large-station termini considered for train systems," the company spokesman said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2018

At Boma and at Leopoldsville, the two termini of the projected line, cities are rising, with stations, wharves and public buildings.

From The Crime of the Congo by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A chain-link fence spanned the terminuses of the complex’s four dead-end streets, behind which lay a dense patch of woods.

From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2021

It’s also near the terminuses of both the Cascadia Subduction Zone and the San Andreas Fault.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2016

In what should be one of the world's great rail terminuses, the locomotives themselves are hidden further underground.

From BBC ● May 27, 2015

I ha' started from terminuses, and I ha' stopped in 'em, so I knows what I'm telling about.

From A Drake by George! by John Trevena

Neither was Julesburg, or Sidney, or Cheyenne, when they was terminuses.

From Desert Dust by J. Clinton Shepherd