Terminate
/ˈtɜːr.mɪ.neɪt/noun
To bring something to an end or to kill someone or something.
Did you know?Terminate comes from Latin terminare, from terminus, the sacred Roman boundary god and marker stone, so the idea of “ending” was originally tied to crossing a line set by ritual authority.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ter-
“to cross over, pass through, or overcome”
Latin
Latin
terminus
“a boundary, border, or boundary marker”
Latin
Latin
terminare
“to limit, bound, or bring to an end”
Late Latin
Latin
terminatus
“ended, bounded, finished”
14th Century
English
terminate
“to bring to an end or set a limit to”
Modern English
English
terminate
“to end, stop, or bring to a close”