Meaning

noun a place where something ends or is complete

noun the ultimate goal for which something is done

noun (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

originEtymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh₂-? Proto-Indo-European *ter-? Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ Proto-Italic *termn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Proto-Italic *term(e)nos Latin terminuslbor. English terminus Learned borrowing from Latin terminus (“boundary, limit”). Doublet of term, Terminus, and termon.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0