The colonel, after all his tergiversations, lost his life in the king's
service.
Clarendon.
Ter"gi*ver*sa`tor (?), n. [L.] One who tergiversates; one who suffles,
or practices evasion.
||Ter"gum (?), n.; pl. Terga (#). [L., the back.] (Zoöl.) (a) The back
||of an animal. (b) The dorsal piece of a somite of an articulate
||animal. (c) One of the dorsal plates of the operculum of a cirriped.
||
Te"rin (?), n. [F. tarin, Prov. F. tairin, térin, probably from the
Picard tère tender.] (Zoöl.) A small yellow singing bird, with an
ash-colored head; the European siskin. Called also tarin.
Term (?), n. [F. terme, L. termen, -inis, terminus, a boundary limit,
end; akin to Gr. &?;, &?;. See Thrum a tuft, and cf. Terminus,
Determine, Exterminate.] 1. That which limits the extent of anything;
limit; extremity; bound; boundary.
Corruption is a reciprocal to generation, and they two are as nature's
two terms, or boundaries.
Bacon.
2. The time for which anything lasts; any limited time; as, a term of
five years; the term of life.
3. In universities, schools, etc., a definite continuous period during
which instruction is regularly given to students; as, the school year
is divided into three terms.
4. (Geom.) A point, line, or superficies, that limits; as, a line is
the term of a superficies, and a superficies is the term of a solid.
5. (Law) A fixed period of time; a prescribed duration; as: (a) The
limitation of an estate; or rather, the whole time for which an estate
is granted, as for the term of a life or lives, or for a term of years.
(b) A space of time granted to a debtor for discharging his obligation.
(c) The time in which a court is held or is open for the trial of
causes. Bouvier.
In England, there were formerly four terms in the year, during which
the superior courts were open: Hilary term, beginning on the 11th and
ending on the 31st of January; Easter term, beginning on the 15th of
April, and ending on the 8th of May; Trinity term, beginning on the 22d
day of May, and ending on the 12th of June; Michaelmas term, beginning
on the 2d and ending on the 25th day of November. The rest of the year
was called vacation. But this division has been practically abolished
by the Judicature Acts of 1873, 1875, which provide for the more
convenient arrangement of the terms and vacations. In the United
States, the terms to be observed by the tribunals of justice are
prescribed by the statutes of Congress and of the several States.
6. (Logic) The subject or the predicate of a proposition; one of the
three component parts of a syllogism, each one of which is used twice.
The subject and predicate of a proposition are, after Aristotle,
together called its terms or extremes.
Sir W. Hamilton.
The predicate of the conclusion is called the major term, because it is
the most general, and the subject of the conclusion is called the minor
term, because it is less general. These are called the extermes; and
the third term, introduced as a common measure between them, is called
the mean or middle term. Thus in the following syllogism, —
Every vegetable is combustible; Every tree is a vegetable; Therefore
every tree is combustible, -
combustible, the predicate of the conclusion, is the major term; tree
is the minor term; vegetable is the middle term.
7. A word or expression; specifically, one that has a precisely limited
meaning in certain relations and uses, or is peculiar to a science,
art, profession, or the like; as, a technical term. "Terms quaint of
law." Chaucer.
In painting, the greatest beauties can not always be expressed for want
of terms.
Dryden.
8. (Arch.) A quadrangular pillar, adorned on the top with the figure of
a head, as of a man, woman, or satyr; — called also terminal figure.
See Terminus, n., 2 and 3.
The pillar part frequently tapers downward, or is narrowest at the
base. Terms rudely carved were formerly used for landmarks or
boundaries. Gwilt.
9. (Alg.) A member of a compound quantity; as, a or b in a + b; ab or
cd in ab - cd.