Word of the Day

Friday, April 02, 2004

coterminous

\koh-TUR-muh-nuhs\ , adjective;

Having the same or coincident boundaries.

Having the same scope, range of meaning, duration.

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Quotes:

In a democracy the interests of the people are, or at least should be, coterminous with those of the state.

-- Ronald Steel, "The Domestic Core of Foreign Policy", The Atlantic, June 1995

That kind of sociological prejudice rests on a false supposition, . . . that "social" and "governmental" are coterminous, and that anyone who is against governmental action is therefore essentially "atomistic."

-- Brian Doherty, "Cybersilly", Reason, August/September 2000

The collapse of the swing phenomenon was coterminous with the emergence of bebop.

-- David Nasaw, "Big-Band Theory", New York Times, November 26, 2000

Origin:

Coterminous is from Latin conterminus, from com-, "together; with" + terminus, "boundary."