Etymology

terminus ad quem

Today it means: The latest possible date of a nonpunctual event (period, era, etc.) Full definition →

Latin terminus
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The story

  1. Latin · borrowed fromterminus“limit”
  2. English todayterminus ad quem

From Latin terminus (“limit”) + ad (“up to”) + quem (“which”), the accusative of quī (“what”). Literally meaning “the limit up until which”.

Words from the same roots

Latinterminus all →

termterminalterminusEaster termterminalianterminus ante quemtermon

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.