Etymograph

English

term

Term comes from Latin terminus ‘a bound, boundary, limit, end’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*térmn̥1‘stump’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*termn̥1‘boundary stone’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*term(e)nos1‘boundary stone’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterminus1‘a bound’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400terme1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500terme1
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588term1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English term
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “The pillers that haue bolſtered vp thoſe tearmes, Are…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*térmn̥Wiktionary, English term‘stump’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*termn̥Wiktionary, English term‘boundary stone’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*term(e)nosWiktionary, English term‘boundary stone’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterminusWiktionary, English term‘a bound’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400termeWiktionary, English term
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500termeWiktionary, English term
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588termWiktionary, English term. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “The pillers that haue bolſtered vp thoſe tearmes, Are…”

The story

Old English had termen, from the same source.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ter- ‘tender, weak’

thrill, intrigue, treachery, thro, inextricable, 30 more

through Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ ‘stump, end, boundary’

tram, 24 more

through Latin terminus ‘a bound, boundary, limit, end’

determination, extermination, determinism, interminable, determinate, 24 more

Today it means

noun That which limits the extent of anything; limit, extremity, bound, boundary, terminus.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “term”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ / term

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