[syn: terminus, terminal figure, term]
VERB (1)
1. name formally or designate with a term;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Term \Term\, n. [F. terme, L. termen, -inis, terminus, a
boundary limit, end; akin to Gr. ?, ?. See Thrum a tuft,
and cf. Terminus, Determine, Exterminate.]
1. That which limits the extent of anything; limit;
extremity; bound; boundary.
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Corruption is a reciprocal to generation, and they
two are as nature's two terms, or boundaries.
--Bacon.
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2. The time for which anything lasts; any limited time; as, a
term of five years; the term of life.
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3. In universities, schools, etc., a definite continuous
period during which instruction is regularly given to
students; as, the school year is divided into three terms.
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4. (Geom.) A point, line, or superficies, that limits; as, a
line is the term of a superficies, and a superficies is
the term of a solid.
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5. (Law) A fixed period of time; a prescribed duration; as:
(a) The limitation of an estate; or rather, the whole time
for which an estate is granted, as for the term of a
life or lives, or for a term of years.
(b) A space of time granted to a debtor for discharging
his obligation.
(c) The time in which a court is held or is open for the
trial of causes. --Bouvier.
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Note: In England, there were formerly four terms in the year,
during which the superior courts were open: Hilary
term, beginning on the 11th and ending on the 31st of
January; Easter term, beginning on the 15th of April,
and ending on the 8th of May; Trinity term, beginning
on the 22d day of May, and ending on the 12th of June;
Michaelmas term, beginning on the 2d and ending on the
25th day of November. The rest of the year was called
vacation. But this division has been practically
abolished by the Judicature Acts of 1873, 1875, which
provide for the more convenient arrangement of the
terms and vacations.
In the United States, the terms to be observed by the
tribunals of justice are prescribed by the statutes of
Congress and of the several States.
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6. (Logic) The subject or the predicate of a proposition; one
of the three component parts of a syllogism, each one of
which is used twice.
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The subject and predicate of a proposition are,
after Aristotle, together called its terms or
extremes. --Sir W.
Hamilton.
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Note: The predicate of the conclusion is called the major
term, because it is the most general, and the subject
of the conclusion is called the minor term, because it
is less general. These are called the extermes; and the
third term, introduced as a common measure between
them, is called the mean or middle term. Thus in the
following syllogism,
[1913 Webster] Every vegetable is combustible; Every
tree is a vegetable; Therefore every tree is
combustible,
[1913 Webster] combustible, the predicate of the
conclusion, is the major term; tree is the minor term;
vegetable is the middle term.
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7. A word or expression; specifically, one that has a
precisely limited meaning in certain relations and uses,
or is peculiar to a science, art, profession, or the like;
as, a technical term. "Terms quaint of law." --Chaucer.
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In painting, the greatest beauties can not always be
expressed for want of terms. --Dryden.
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8. (Arch.) A quadrangular pillar, adorned on the top with the
figure of a head, as of a man, woman, or satyr; -- called
also terminal figure. See Terminus, n., 2 and 3.
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Note: The pillar part frequently tapers downward, or is
narrowest at the base. Terms rudely carved were
formerly used for landmarks or boundaries. --Gwilt.
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9. (Alg.) A member of a compound quantity; as, a or b in a +
b; ab or cd in ab - cd.
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10. pl. (Med.) The menses.
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11. pl. (Law) Propositions or promises, as in contracts,
which, when assented to or accepted by another, settle
the contract and bind the parties; conditions.
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12. (Law) In Scotland, the time fixed for the payment of
rents.
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Note: Terms legal and conventional in Scotland correspond to
quarter days in England and Ireland. There are two
legal terms -- Whitsunday, May 15, and Martinmas, Nov.
11; and two conventional terms -- Candlemas, Feb. 2,
and Lammas day, Aug. 1. --Mozley & W.
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13. (Naut.) A piece of carved work placed under each end of
the taffrail. --J. Knowels.
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In term, in set terms; in formal phrase. [Obs.]
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I can not speak in term. --Chaucer.
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Term fee (Law)
(a), a fee by the term, chargeable to a suitor, or by law
fixed and taxable in the costs of a cause for each or
any term it is in court.
Terms of a proportion (Math.), the four members of which it
is composed.
To bring to terms, to compel (one) to agree, assent, or
submit; to force (one) to come to terms.
To make terms, to come to terms; to make an agreement: to
agree.
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Syn: Limit; bound; boundary; condition; stipulation; word;
expression.
Usage: Term, Word. These are more frequently interchanged
than almost any other vocables that occur of the
language. There is, however, a difference between them
which is worthy of being kept in mind. Word is
generic; it denotes an utterance which represents or
expresses our thoughts and feelings. Term originally
denoted one of the two essential members of a
proposition in logic, and hence signifies a word of
specific meaning, and applicable to a definite class
of objects. Thus, we may speak of a scientific or a
technical term, and of stating things in distinct
terms. Thus we say, "the term minister literally
denotes servant;" "an exact definition of terms is
essential to clearness of thought;" "no term of
reproach can sufficiently express my indignation;"
"every art has its peculiar and distinctive terms,"
etc. So also we say, "purity of style depends on the
choice of words, and precision of style on a clear
understanding of the terms used." Term is chiefly
applied to verbs, nouns, and adjectives, these being
capable of standing as terms in a logical proposition;
while prepositions and conjunctions, which can never
be so employed, are rarely spoken of as terms, but
simply as words.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Term \Term\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Termed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Terming.] [See Term, n., and cf. Terminate.]
To apply a term to; to name; to call; to denominate.
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Men term what is beyond the limits of the universe
"imaginary space." --Locke.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
term
n 1: a word or expression used for some particular thing; "he
learned many medical terms"
2: a limited period of time; "a prison term"; "he left school
before the end of term"
3: (usually plural) a statement of what is required as part of
an agreement; "the contract set out the conditions of the
lease"; "the terms of the treaty were generous" [syn:
condition, term]
4: any distinct quantity contained in a polynomial; "the general
term of an algebraic equation of the n-th degree"
5: one of the substantive phrases in a logical proposition; "the
major term of a syllogism must occur twice"
6: the end of gestation or point at which birth is imminent; "a
healthy baby born at full term" [syn: term, full term]
7: (architecture) a statue or a human bust or an animal carved
out of the top of a square pillar; originally used as a
boundary marker in ancient Rome [syn: terminus, terminal
figure, term]
v 1: name formally or designate with a term
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
298 Moby Thesaurus words for "term":
Z, abundant year, academic year, adjectival phrase, administration,
agree, annum, antonym, apodosis, appellation, arrange, articles,
articulation, as regards, assumptions, balance, baptize, basis,
bissextile year, border line, bound, boundary, boundary condition,
boundary line, bourn, break boundary, breakoff point,
calendar month, calendar year, call, catastrophe, ceasing, ceiling,
century, cessation, christen, chronology, circumscription, clause,
clauses, coda, come to terms, common year, compass, compromise,
concerning, conclusion, condition, conditions, confine, confines,
construction, consummation, continuity, continuous tenure, course,
crack of doom, culmination, curtain, curtains, cutoff,
cutoff point, day, deadline, death, decade, decease, decennary,
decennium, defective year, define, delimitation, denominate,
denouement, designate, designation, destination, destiny, detail,
determinant, division line, doom, dub, duration, duree, effect,
end, end point, ending, enlistment, entitle, envoi, epilogue,
eschatology, exception, expiration, expression, extremity, fate,
final solution, final twitch, final words, finale, finality, finis,
finish, fiscal year, floor, footing, fortnight, free form,
frontier, glosseme, go, goal, headed group, hedge, high-water mark,
hitch, homograph, homonym, homophone, hour, icon, identify, idiom,
idiotism, in relation to, incumbency, interface, interval, item,
izzard, label, last, last breath, last gasp, last things,
last trumpet, last words, lastingness, latter end, leap year,
lexeme, lexical form, limen, limit, limitation, limiting factor,
line, line of demarcation, linguistic form, locution, logos,
low-water mark, lower limit, lunar month, lunar year, lunation,
luster, lustrum, man-hour, manner of speaking, march, mark, mete,
metonym, microsecond, millennium, millisecond, minimum free form,
minute, moment, monosyllable, month, moon, morpheme, name,
nickname, nominate, noun phrase, omega, paragraph, particular,
payment, payoff, peculiar expression, period, peroration, phase,
phrasal idiom, phrase, point, polysyllable, position, prison term,
provision, provisions, proviso, psychological time, qualification,
quarter, quietus, quinquennium, rates, reconcile, regarding,
regular year, relating to, relations, relationship, relative to,
reservation, resolution, resting place, schedule, second,
semasiological unit, sememe, semester, sentence, session,
set phrase, settle, sidereal year, sign, signifiant, significant,
sitting, solar year, space, space-time, span, specify, spell,
standard phrase, standing, start, starting line, starting point,
stint, stipulation, stipulations, stoppage, stopping place,
stretch, string, strings, style, sun, swan song, syllable, symbol,
synonym, syntactic structure, tag, target date, tense, tenure,
terminal, terminal date, termination, terminus, terms, the future,
the past, the present, threshold, tide, time, time allotment,
timebinding, title, token, tour, trimester, turn,
turn of expression, turn of phrase, twelvemonth, type, upper limit,
usage, utterance, verb complex, verb phrase, verbalism, verbum,
vocable, way of speaking, week, weekday, while, windup,
with regard to, word, word-group, year
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
TERM
1. A program by Michael O'Reilly
for people running Unix who have
Internet access via a dial-up connection, and who don't
have access to SLIP, or PPP, or simply prefer a more
lightweight protocol. TERM does end-to-end
error-correction, compression and mulplexing across serial
links. This means you can upload and download files as
the same time you're reading your news, and can run X
clients on the other side of your modem link, all without
needing SLIP or PPP.
(ftp://tartarus.uwa.edu.au/pub/oreillym/term/term115.tar.gz).
2. Technology Enabled Relationship Management.
(1999-10-04)
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
TERM, construction. Word; expression speech.
2. Terms or words are characters by which we announce our sentiments,
and make known to others things with which we are acquainted. These must be
properly construed or interpreted in order to understand the parties using
them. Vide Construction; Interpretation; Word.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
TERM, contracts. This word is used in the civil, law to denote the space of
time granted to the debtor for discharging his obligation; there are express
terms resulting from the positive stipulations of the agreement; as, where
one undertakes to pay a certain sum on a certain day and also terms which
tacitly result from the nature of the things which are the object of the
engagement, or from the place where the act is agreed to be done. For
instance, if a builder engage to construct a house for me, I must allow a
reasonable time for fulfilling his engagement.
2. A term is either of right or of grace; when it makes part of the
agreement and is expressly or tacitly included in it, it is of right when it
is not part of the agreement, it is of grace; as if it is not afterwards
granted by the judge at the requisition of the debtor. Poth. on Oblig. P. 2,
c. 3, art. 3; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 719 et seq.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
TERM, estates. The limitation of an estate, as a term for years, for life,
and the like. The word term does not merely signify the time specified in
the lease, but the estate also and interest that passes by that lease; and
therefore the term may expire during the continuance of the time, as by
surrender, forfeiture and the like. 2 Bl. Com. 145; 8 Pick. R. 339.
TERM, practice. The space of time during which a court holds a session;
sometimes the term is a monthly, at others it is a quarterly period,
according to the constitution of the court.
2. The whole term is considered as but one day so that the judges may
at any time during the term, revise their judgments. In the computation of
the term all adjournments are to be included. 9 Watts, R. 200. Courts are
presumed to know judicially when their terms are required to be held by
public law. 4 Dev. R. 427. See, 1 generally, Peck, R. 82; 6 Yerg. R. 395; 7
Yerg. R. 365; 6 Rand. R. 704; 2 Cowen, R. 445; 1 Cowen, R. 58; 5 Binn. R.
389; 4 S. & R. 507 5 Mass. R. 195, 435.