Library / English Dictionary

TERM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(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

Synonyms:

term; terminal figure; terminus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("term" is a kind of...):

statue (a sculpture representing a human or animal)

Domain category:

architecture (the discipline dealing with the principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any distinct quantity contained in a polynomial

Example:

the general term of an algebraic equation of the n-th degree

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("term" is a kind of...):

quantity (the concept that something has a magnitude and can be represented in mathematical expressions by a constant or a variable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A word or expression used for some particular thing

Example:

he learned many medical terms

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("term" is a kind of...):

word (a unit of language that native speakers can identify)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "term"):

referent (something that refers; a term that refers to another term)

Derivation:

term (name formally or designate with a term)

Sense 4

Meaning:

One of the substantive phrases in a logical proposition

Example:

the major term of a syllogism must occur twice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("term" is a kind of...):

constituent; grammatical constituent ((grammar) a word or phrase or clause forming part of a larger grammatical construction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "term"):

subject ((logic) the first term of a proposition)

predicate ((logic) what is predicated of the subject of a proposition; the second term in a proposition is predicated of the first term by means of the copula)

referent (the first term in a proposition; the term to which other terms relate)

relatum (a term in a proposition that is related to the referent of the proposition)

categorem; categoreme (a categorematic expression; a term capable of standing alone as the subject or predicate of a logical proposition)

major term (the term in a syllogism that is the predicate of the conclusion)

minor term (the term in a syllogism that is the subject of the conclusion)

middle term (the term in a syllogism that is common to both premises and excluded from the conclusion)

Holonyms ("term" is a part of...):

proposition ((logic) a statement that affirms or denies something and is either true or false)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(usually plural) a statement of what is required as part of an agreement

Example:

the terms of the treaty were generous

Synonyms:

condition; strings; term

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("term" is a kind of...):

statement (a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forth particulars or facts etc)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Holonyms ("term" is a part of...):

agreement; understanding (the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promises)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A limited period of time

Example:

he left school before the end of term

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("term" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Meronyms (parts of "term"):

midterm (middle of an academic term or a political term in office)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "term"):

prison term; sentence; time (the period of time a prisoner is imprisoned)

academic session; academic term; school term; session (the time during which a school holds classes)

incumbency; tenure; term of office (the term during which some position is held)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The end of gestation or point at which birth is imminent

Example:

a healthy baby born at full term

Synonyms:

full term; term

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("term" is a kind of...):

point; point in time (an instant of time)

Holonyms ("term" is a part of...):

gestation; gestation period (the period during which an embryo develops (about 266 days in humans))

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Name formally or designate with a term

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "term" is one way to...):

be known as; call; know as; name (assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

term (a word or expression used for some particular thing)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I could name three people now, who would give me my own terms and thank me.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I proved it to you in such terms as, I should have thought, would have prevented your ever again alluding to the plan.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I described the ship to him in the best terms I could, and explained, by the help of my handkerchief displayed, how it was driven forward by the wind.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

You may come to terms with this challenging client by then, or you may have another, different client come in who wants to work with you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

We're willing to submit, if we can come to terms, and no bones about it.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

After all, since we are to be on such terms, Mr. Altamont, said he, I don’t see why I should trust you any more than you trust me.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If it please you, my fair lord, said Black Simon, I know something of these parts, for I have twice served a term with the King of Navarre.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Meanwhile, I hold you to the terms of your wager.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I will keep no terms with my enemies.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)