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terminal ~ terminus

[different end pronunciation]

“Terminal”, as a noun, is ‘a building/a set of buildings where passengers arrive and leave an airport; a place or building where journeys by train, bus, ship begin and end, and where goods are loaded or unloaded on a carrier vehicle; a piece of computer equipment with at least a keyboard and a screen that is used to put in or take out data from a central computer system; a point at which one can connect wires in an electrical circuit’; as an adjective, it means ‘(of an illness) that cannot be cured, that can lead a patient to death; (of a situation) certain to get worse and worse with no hope of getting better; at the end of something’,

e.g.

He said he’d call us from the airport terminal as soon as he landed.

The passengers at the ferry terminal had to turn back because of the floods.  [a ferry = a flat boat]

Her doctors declared that her cancer was terminal.

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“Terminus” (noun, with the plural form ‘termini’) is ‘the last stop or station at the end of a railway or bus route; the end; the final point; a place or point where something ends’,

e.g.

Our town railway station is the terminus for several of the long distance express trains, and so is beginning to grow into a prosperous city.

Compare:

Terminal = a railway junction or an airport where passengers get on and off, for some passengers it may be the last stop, but  for some others the lines proceed further; a passenger can change trains or buses end journey or proceed taking another train or bus – from here it is possible to continue journey

Terminus = a railway or bus route with a total dead end; journey beyond this point is not possible on a bus or railway

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