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τέρμα , ατος, τό,
A.end, boundary, chiefly poet.:
I. goal round which horses and chariots had to turn at races, “περὶ τέρμαθ᾽ ἑλισσέμεν” Il.23.309; περὶ τ. βαλούσας, εὖ σχεθέειν περὶ τέρμα, ib.462,466; τέρματα θεῖναι or σημῆναι, ib.333,358; “ἔστασεν ἐν τέρμασιν ἀγῶνος” Pi.P. 9.114; τ. δωδεκάγναμπτον, i.e. doubled twelve times, Id.O.3.33; δρόμου τέρματα dub. l. in S.El.686; ἐξωτέρω ἀποκάμπτειν τοῦ τ. Arist. Rh.1409b23.
2. mark set to show how far a quoit was thrown, “ἔθηκε δὲ τέρματ᾽ Ἀθήνη” Od.8.193.
3. metaph., issue, event, A. Ag.781,1177 (both lyr.).
II. generally, end, limit, “δολιχῆς τ. κελεύθου” Id.Pr.286 (anap.), cf. 706, 823; ποῦ τὸ τ. τῆς φυγῆς; Id.Eu. 422: pl., “ὁδοῦ τέρματα” Thgn.1166; ἐπὶ τέρμασι τοῖσι ἐκείνης (sc. τῆς Εὐρώπης) Hdt.7.54; συνάγουσι τὰ τέρματα (oftwo rivers) they contract their bounds, i.e. draw together and so contract the space between them, Id.4.52: metaph., πλούτου τέρμα a limit to wealth, Thgn. 227.
2. end, in point of time or distance, ἐπὶ τέρμ᾽ ἀφίκετο reached the limit, was at the end, S.Aj.48; Ἑρμῆς σφ᾽ ἄγει . . πρὸς αὐτὸτ. Id.El.1397 (lyr.); βιότουτ. the term or end of life, death, Simon. 85.13; τ. βίου or τοῦ βίου, A.Fr.362, S.OT1530 (troch.), E.Alc.643; γήρως ἐσχάτοις πρὸς τ. Id.Andr.1081; τ. μόχθων, πόνων, ἄθλου, A.Pr.100 (anap.), 186 (lyr.), 259; “Σισύφου πέτρος ἀνήνυτος, οὗ τὰ τέρματα αὖθις ἄρχει πόνων” Pl.Ax.371e; ἐπὶ τέρματι at last, A.Eu.633: also τέρμα abs., like τέλος, Ps.-Phoc.138.
3. culmination, highest point, goal, τ. ἀέθλων prize, Pi.I.4(3).85(67); “κακῶν” E.Supp. 369 (lyr.); “πρὸς τέρμασιν ὥρας” Ar.Av.705; “τέρματα νίκης” Archestr. Fr.34.10; “τ. τέχνης” Parrhas. 2; ὑγιείας ἀκόρεστον τ. the bounds of health are insatiable, A.Ag.1002 (lyr.); “ἀγχόνης τέρματα” Id.Eu.746; θανάτου τ. E.Hipp.140 (lyr.).
4. highest power, supremacy, τ. Κορίνθου ἔχειν to be sovereign of Corinth, Simon.112; “θεοὶ . . πάντων τέρμ᾽ ἔχοντες” E.Supp.617 (lyr.); σωτηρίας γὰρ τέρμ᾽ ἔχεις ἡμῖν μόνη you are the arbiter . . , Id.Or.1343; τ. τῆς σωτηρίας final pledge . . , S.OC725; “δαίμονες οἳ φιλίης τέρματ᾽ . . ἔχετε” AP12.170 (Diosc.). (Cf. τέρμων, τέρθρον, Skt. tárati, tiráti 'cross, win through, overcome', Lat. terminus, trans, in-trare.）
Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940.

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