use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

term (tûrm)
Share:
n.
1. A limited or established period of time that something is supposed to last, as a school or court session, tenure in public office, or a prison sentence.
2.
a. A point in time at which something ends; termination: an apprenticeship nearing its term.
b. The end of a normal gestation period: carried the fetus to term.
c. A deadline, as for making a payment.
3. Law
a. A fixed period of time for which an estate is granted.
b. An estate granted for a fixed period.
4.
a. A word or group of words having a particular meaning, especially in a specific field: I was baffled by the technical terms that the programmers were using.
b. terms Language of a certain kind; chosen words: spoke in rather vague terms; praised him in glowing terms.
5. often terms One of the elements of a proposed or concluded agreement; a condition: offered favorable peace terms; one of the terms of the lease; the terms of a divorce settlement.
6. terms The relationship between two people or groups; personal footing: on good terms with her in-laws.
7. Mathematics
a. One of the quantities composing a ratio or fraction or forming a series.
b. One of the quantities connected by addition or subtraction signs in an equation; a member.
8. Logic Each of the two concepts being compared or related in a proposition.
9.
a. A stone or post marking a boundary, especially a squared and downward-tapering pillar adorned with a head and upper torso.
b. An architectural or decorative motif resembling such a marker.
tr.v. termed, term·ing, terms
To designate; call.
Idiom:
in terms of
1. As measured or indicated by; in units of: distances expressed in terms of kilometers as well as miles; cheap entertainment, but costly in terms of time wasted.
2. In relation to; with reference to: "narcissistic parents who ... interpret their child's experience entirely in terms of their own history" (Richard Weissbourd).

[Middle English terme, from Old French, from Latin terminus, boundary. N., senses 4-8, from Middle English, from Medieval Latin terminus, from Late Latin, mathematical or logical term, from Latin, boundary, limit.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.