# terminator

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtɜː.mɪ.neɪ.tə/ · frequency rank #20,247

## Definitions
1. Someone who terminates or ends something, especially (in later use) an assassin or exterminator.
2. A text character or string that serves to mark the end of a document or transmission.
3. The line between the day side and the night side of a moon, planet or other celestial body.
4. A DNA sequence that causes RNA transcription to cease and an mRNA transcript to break off.
5. An electrical device that absorbs reflection at the end of a transmission line.
6. An intelligent android created to destroy humans.

## Etymology
* Partly from post-classical Latin terminator (5th century), from Latin terminō; partly from terminate + -or.
* (android that kills humans): After the 1984 film The Terminator.

## Easily confused with
- **terminate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/terminate-vs-terminator)
- **terminated** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/terminated-vs-terminator)
- **termination** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/termination-vs-terminator)

## Common misspellings (15)
`etrminator`, `temrinator`, `terimnator`, `termiantor`, `terminaotr`, `terminatorr`, `terminatro`, `terminattor`, `terminnator`, `termintaor`, `termminator`, `termniator`, `terrminator`, `treminator`, `tterminator`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/terminator