Etymology

terminus ante quem

Today it means: The date before which an event in the past must have occurred: the date before which a document must have been written, the date before which an archaeological artifact must have been deposited, and so on. Full definition →

Latin terminus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromterminus“boundary, limit”
  2. English todayterminus ante quem

From the Latin terminus (“boundary, limit”) and ante (“before”) and quem (“which”), the accusative of quī (“what”). Literally meaning "the limit before which".

Words from the same roots

Latinterminus all →

termterminalterminusEaster termterminalianterminus ad quemtermon

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.