terminus

> terminal and terminus
terminal and terminus in some contexts are interchangeable. They both refer to "the end of a bus route, the last stop on a bus route, the building at the end of a bus route", as in "The bus doesn't go any further-this is the terminus/terminal", but terminus is the more common term in this sense. They can also both mean "the end of a railway line, the station at the end of a railway line", but terminal is the more common term in this sense. Terminal can refer to "a building containing the arrival and departure areas for passengers at an airport" and "a building in the centre of a town for the arrival and departure of air passengers". Terminal also refers to "a point of connection in an electric circuit", as in "the positive and negative terminals", and "apparatus, usually consisting of a keyboard and screen, for communicating with the central processor in a computing system", as in "He has a dumb terminal so he can read information but not input it". As an adjective terminal means "of, or relating to, the last stage in a fatal illness", as in "a terminal disease" and "terminal patients".