term

—termly, adv.

/terrm/, n.

1. a word or group of words designating something, esp. in a particular field, as atom in physics, quietism in theology, adze in carpentry, or district leader in politics.

2. any word or group of words considered as a member of a construction or utterance.

3. the time or period through which something lasts.

4. a period of time to which limits have been set: elected for a term of four years.

5. one of two or more divisions of a school year, during which instruction is regularly provided.

6. an appointed or set time or date, as for the payment of rent, interest, wages, etc.

7. terms,

a. conditions with regard to payment, price, charge, rates, wages, etc.: reasonable terms.

b. conditions or stipulations limiting what is proposed to be granted or done: the terms of a treaty.

c. footing or standing; relations: on good terms with someone.

d. Obs. state, situation, or circumstances.

8. Algebra, Arith.

a. each of the members of which an expression, a series of quantities, or the like, is composed, as one of two or more parts of an algebraic expression.

b. a mathematical expression of the form ax^p, ax^py^q, etc., where a, p, and q are numbers and x and y are variables.

9. Logic.

a. the subject or predicate of a categorical proposition.

b. the word or expression denoting the subject or predicate of a categorical proposition.

10. Also called terminus. a figure, esp. of Terminus, in the form of a herm, used by the ancient Romans as a boundary marker; terminal figure.

11. Law.

a. an estate or interest in land or the like, to be enjoyed for a fixed period.

b. the duration of an estate.

c. each of the periods during which certain courts of law hold their sessions.

12. completion of pregnancy; parturition.

13. Archaic.

a. end, conclusion, or termination.

b. boundary or limit.

14. bring to terms, to force to agree to stated demands or conditions; bring into submission: After a long struggle, we brought them to terms.

15. come to terms,

a. to reach an agreement; make an arrangement: to come to terms with a creditor.

b. to become resigned or accustomed: to come to terms with one's life.

16. eat one's terms, Brit. Informal. to study for the bar; be a law student.

17. in terms of, with regard to; concerning: The book offers nothing in terms of a satisfactory conclusion.

v.t.

18. to apply a particular term or name to; name; call; designate.

[1175-1225; ME terme < OF < L terminus boundary, limit, end; akin to Gk térmon limit]

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▪ architecture and sculpture

      in the visual arts, element consisting of a sculptured figure or bust at the top of a stone pillar or column that usually tapers downward to a quadrangular base. Often the pillar replaces the body of the figure, with feet sometimes indicated at its base. The pillar itself may be a separate object (i.e., a pedestal for the head or other sculpture), in which case it is called a terminal pedestal.

      The word term (an abbreviation of Terminus, the Roman name for the god of boundaries) has a long list of synonyms, including terminal figure, terminus, terminal, herma, hermes, and herm. In ancient Rome terms were placed along highways and used as boundary markers. The head or bust on a Roman term could be that of a human, an animal, or a mythical creature. The ancestor of the Roman term, the herm, was a sacred representation of the Greek god of travelers, Hermes: a sculptured bust of the god merging into the stone pillar supporting it. The most familiar form of term is that found in many Renaissance gardens, in which a detailed portrait head arises out of a simple, sculptured pillar.

▪ logic

      in logic, the subject or predicate of a categorical proposition (q.v.), or statement. Aristotle so used the Greek word horos (“limit”), apparently by an analogy between the terms of a proportion and those of a syllogism. Terminus is the Latin translation of this word, used, for example, by the 5th-century Roman philosopher Boethius. Hence in medieval logic the word came to be used also for common and proper names generally and even for what were called syncate-gorematic terms—words such as and, if, not, some, only, except, which are incapable of being used for the subject or predicate of a proposition.

      In mathematics, the terms of a fraction are the numerator and denominator. The terms of a proportion are the four numbers or expressions that enter into the proportion. Similarly, the terms of a sum are the numbers that are added together to constitute the sum or the numerical expressions denoting them. In this sense, an infinite series is thought of as a sum of an infinite number of terms; and a polynomial is a sum of a finite number of monomials, which are the terms of the polynomial. When the terms are quite complicated, they can be identified by the plus or minus signs by which they are demarcated.

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