Terminus, Term, Exterminate
- PostEagle
- May 25, 2016
- Word Etymology
- 0 Comments
The words for today are TERMINIUS, TERM, and EXTERMINATE. It comes from the Latin word TERMINUS, which was the god of boundaries. Numa, the second king of Rome, decreed that everyone should mark the boundaries of his land by monuments consecrated to the god Terminus, and that sacrifices be made yearly on the 23rd of February. The god Terminus was represented by a torso with no arms and no legs to intimate that he never moved from his place.
Today the word TERMINUS means the end point or boundary and the word EXTERMINATE means to drive out of the boundaries.