term

plural terms

1. original meaning; by derivation; original meaning; by derivationThat which limits the extent of anything; limit, extremity, bound, boundary, terminus.

   At the decline of day, Winding above the mountain’s snowy term, New banners shone: […]

   1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 268

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   Corruption is a reciprocal to generation, and they two are as nature's two terms, or boundaries.

   1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC

2. A condition or restriction.
   1. oftenpluralAny of the binding conditions or promises in a contract or agreement.

      Be sure to read the terms and conditions before signing.

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      Alright, look...we can spend the holidays with your parents, but this time it will be on my terms.

   2. in pluralSpecifically, the conditions in a legal contract that specify the price and also how and when payment must be made.

      The latest models are available now, on the lowest terms you'll find anywhere, guaranteed.

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      Q: What are your company's terms? A: Net thirty, cash or check. [This answer means that the net total must be paid within 30 days; see Net D.]

      The Cabin is large and commodious, well calculated for the Accommodation of Paſengers. Merchandiſe, Produce, &c. carried on the loweſt Terms.

      1793 May 17, John Constable and James Piper, advertisement for a packet-boat between Chestertown and Baltimore, Chestertown, Maryland, :File:Packet_Schooner.jpg

3. A chronological limitation or division.
   1. A limited or defined timespan.

      near-term, mid-term and long-term goals

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      The term of a lease agreement is the period of time during which the lease is effective, and may be fixed, periodic, or of indefinite duration.

      He was sentenced to a term of six years in prison.

      The term allowed to a debtor to discharge his debt.

   2. Duration of officeholding, or its limit; period in office of fixed length.

      The president is almost half way through his term.

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      “I don’t believe that the people trust Netanyahu to lead when he is under the burden of such a devastating event that just happened under his term,” he told the Observer.

      2023 October 22, Ruth Michaelson, quoting Ehud Barak, “Netanyahu told to ‘quit now’ as ex-leaders pin blame on dysfunctional government”, in The Observer, →ISSN

      "To show just how much I care about the press, and because I want to save your ratings, I'm pleased to announce my intention to run for a fourth term as President of the United States," Trump told the audience.

      2026 July 27, Daniel Rugunya, quoting Donald J. Trump, “Donald Trump Jokes About ‘Running For A Fourth Term’ At Rescheduled WHCD”, in Yahoo, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2026

   3. The time during which legal courts are open.
   4. Certain days on which rent is paid.
   5. Part of a year, especially one of the divisions of an academic year.

      At our school, sports day was always held at the end of the summer term.

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      From 1960 to 1963 I spent my terms at Cambridge University but was back home for the vacs[.]

      1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 45

      From 1960 to 1963 I spent my terms at Cambridge University but was back home for the vacs[.]

      1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 45

   6. With respect to a pregnancy, the usual duration of gestation for the given species (for example, nine months in humans); (metonymic) the end of this duration: the timepoint at which birth usually happens (for example, in humans, approximately 40 weeks from conception), defining the due date.

      at term

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      A pregnancy didn't come to term.

      preterm

      postterm

   7. archaicA menstrual period.

      My wife, after the absence of her terms for seven weeks, gave me hopes of her being with child, but on the last day of the year she hath them again.

      1660, Samuel Pepys, Diary

   8. The maximum period during which the patent can be maintained into force.
4. in pluralusually in phrases such as on good terms and similarRelations among people.

   We are on friendly terms with each other.

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   Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.[…]Next day she[…]tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and perhaps had spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 361

5. A unit or component with a certain meaning.
   1. A word or phrase (e.g., noun phrase, verb phrase, open compound), especially one from a specialised area of knowledge; a name for a concept.

      "Algorithm" is a term used in computer science.

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      The noun phrase "red blood cell", the acronym "RBC", and the word "erythrocyte" are synonymous terms.

   2. in pluralA stated kind of language or terminology.

      Could you explain that in layman's terms?

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      I told her in no uncertain terms that it was none of her business.

   3. mathematicsAny value (variable or constant) or expression separated from another term by a space or an appropriate character, in an overall expression or table.

      All the terms of this sum cancel out.

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      One only term is odd in ( 12; 3; 4 ).

   4. human sciencesThe subject or the predicate of a proposition; one of the three component parts of a syllogism, each one of which is used twice.

      The subject and predicate of a proposition are, after Aristotle, together called its terms or extremes.

      a. 1857, William Hamilton, edited by H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch, Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1859–1860, →OCLC

6. astrologyAn essential dignity in which unequal segments of every astrological sign have internal rulerships which affect the power and integrity of each planet in a natal chart.
7. archaicgeometryA point, line, or superficies that limits.

   A line is the term of a superficies, and a superficies is the term of a solid.

8. artA statue of the upper body, sometimes without the arms, ending in a pillar or pedestal.First known use 17th c.

   The pillers that haue bolſtered vp thoſe tearmes, Are falne in cluſters at my conquering feet.

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii

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   You have been already informed, I have no doubt, of the subject which we have chosen: the adorning a Term of Hymen with festoons of flowers.

   1773, Joshua Reynolds, edited by John Ingamells and John Edgcumbe, The Letters of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Yale, published 2000, page 42

9. nauticalA piece of carved work placed under each end of the taffrail.

present singular third person terms · participle present terming · participle past termed · past termed

1. transitiveTo phrase a certain way; to name or call.

   Abstraction or prescision ought to be carefully distinguished from two other modes of mental separation, which may be termed discrimination and dissociation.

   1867, Charles Sanders Peirce, On a New List of Categories

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   The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone, essentially what today we might term a frameless magnifying glass or plain glass paperweight.

   2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist

   Synonyms: describe as, designate, dub, name, refer to

1. colloquialnot comparablemedicineBorn or delivered at term.

   term neonate

plural terms

1. informalcomputingA computer program that emulates a physical terminal.

present singular third person terms · participle present terming · participle past termed · past termed

1. ambitransitiveinformalTo terminate someone's employment.
2. informaltransitiveTo delete someone's account.

plural terms

1. One whose employment has been terminated