terminator

English

Etymology

Partly from post-classical Latin terminator (5th century), from Latin terminō; partly from terminate +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtəː.mɪ.neɪ.tə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɝ.mɪ.neɪ.dɚ/
• Hyphenation: ter‧mi‧na‧tor

Noun

terminator (plural terminators)

1. Someone who terminates or ends something, especially (in later use) an assassin or exterminator. [from 17th c.]
2. (astronomy) The line between the day side and the night side of a moon, planet or other celestial body. [from 17th c.]
   • 2015, David Wootton, The Invention of Science, Penguin 2016, p. 218:

     Harriot, looking at the moon, saw the irregular terminator, the highlights and shadows, the mountain ranges and valleys that Galileo had described – and he also convinced himself that he saw Galileo's imaginary crater.

3. (biochemistry) A DNA sequence which causes RNA transcription to cease and an mRNA transcript to break off. [from 20th c.]
4. (electronics) An electrical device that absorbs reflection at the end of a transmission line.
5. (science fiction) An intelligent android created to destroy humans (after the 1984 film The Terminator).

Synonyms

• (astronomy): grey line, separatrix (the general term for such lines)

Translations

one who terminates

• Finnish: lopettaja, tuhoaja (fi)
• Georgian: ტერმინატორი (ṭerminaṭori)
• Greek: εξολοθρευτής (el) m (exolothreftís)

• Portuguese: terminador m
• Russian: терминатор (ru) (terminator)

a DNA sequence

• Georgian: ტერმინატორი (ṭerminaṭori)
• Portuguese: terminador m

• Russian: терминатор (ru) m (terminator)

an electrical device

• Finnish: päätevastus
• French: terminateur (fr)

• Georgian: ტერმინატორი (ṭerminaṭori)
• Japanese: ターミネータ (tāminētā), 終端器 (shūtanki)
• Polish: terminator (pl) m
• Russian: терминатор (ru) m (terminator)

the line between the day side and the night side

• Finnish: terminaattori (fi)
• French: terminateur (fr)
• Georgian: ტერმინატორი (ṭerminaṭori)
• German: Nachtlinie f

• Polish: terminator (pl) m
• Portuguese: terminador m
• Russian: терминатор (ru) m (terminator)

an AI machine in science fiction

• Arabic: مُبِيد‎ m (mubīd)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 終結者 (zh), 终结者 (zh) (zhōngjiézhě), 殲滅者, 歼灭者 (jiānmièzhě), (Taiwan) 魔鬼終結者, 魔鬼终结者 (móguǐ zhōngjiézhě)

• Georgian: ტერმინატორი (ṭerminaṭori)
• German: Terminator (de) m
• Greek: εξολοθρευτής (el) m (exolothreftís)

• Hungarian: terminátor
• Japanese: ターミネーター (tāminētā)
• Marathi: टर्मिनेटर m (ṭarmineṭar)
• Portuguese: exterminador (pt) m
• Russian: термина́тор (ru) m (terminátor)

Anagrams

• antitremor

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Latin

Verb

terminātor

1. second-person singular future passive imperative of terminō
2. third-person singular future passive imperative of terminō

References

• terminator in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• terminator in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• terminator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

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Polish

Etymology

From termin +‎ -ator.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛr.mʲiˈna.tɔr/

Noun

terminator m pers (feminine terminatorka)

1. (obsolete) apprentice

Declension

declension of terminator

	singular	plural
nominative	terminator	terminatorzy
genitive	terminatora	terminatorów
dative	terminatorowi	terminatorom
accusative	terminatora	terminatorów
instrumental	terminatorem	terminatorami
locative	terminatorze	terminatorach
vocative	terminatorze	terminatorzy

Noun

terminator m inan

1. (astronomy) terminator
2. (electronics) terminator

Declension

declension of terminator

	singular	plural
nominative	terminator	terminatory
genitive	terminatoru	terminatorów
dative	terminatorowi	terminatorom
accusative	terminator	terminatory
instrumental	terminatorem	terminatorami
locative	terminatorze	terminatorach
vocative	terminatorze	terminatory

Further reading

• terminator in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• terminator in Polish dictionaries at PWN