Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: Latin
Origin: terminalis, from terminus; TERM1

terminal

1 adjective
     
ter‧mi‧nal1
1 a terminal illness cannot be cured, and causes death:
terminal cancer
2

(in) terminal decline

British English in a state of becoming worse and worse and never getting better:
The once great industry is now in terminal decline.
—terminally adverb:
terminally ill patients
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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