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Original · left

Terminal (transport)

The final destination building at the conclusion of an airport runway, rail line, or bus route.

First in use: the 1800s
Duplicate · right

Computer terminal

An electronic interface or terminal-emulator application accepting character inputs to execute commands and output textual data.

First in use: the 1960s

Terminal / Terminal (transport) / Computer terminal

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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Airports vs. command lines.

Which meaning of Terminal is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Terminal (transport) came first (the 1800s). Computer terminal arrived in the 1960s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Terminal (transport)Computer terminal
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1800s

Terminal (transport)

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Duplicate · the 1960s

Computer terminal

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More duplicated terms

Hardware & devices