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air terminal

air terminal

1 3.5
A building at an airport where passengers and luggage are checked and handled before or after flights
  • noun
  • /ɛr ˈtɜrmɪnəl/
translation icon : terminal de aeropuerto
  • Passengers checked in at the bustling air terminal before their flight to New York.

Examples

  • She was sitting in the makeshift open-air terminal, watching a small jumper plane preparing for takeoff.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The Delacroy jet is waiting at the private air terminal.

  • At major air terminals across the United States and Canada.

  • You know, the only private air terminal around here is at Conway.

  • You wanna take snapshots at all the various places: The air terminal...

  • Helicopter coming in to Waterloo air terminal.

  • My presence in an air terminal or my desire to board a commercial aircraft does not constitute probable cause for an invasive search of my person, neither by individuals nor by electronic means.

    Blog text (26)
  • The old air terminal, the one she still walked through in her dreams, stood empty across the vast concrete prairie of landing strips, but it could not be seen from any of the new terminal's enormous glass walls, which looked out on views only worth watching for a few seconds.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The air terminal was filled with travelers waiting for their flights to board.

  • He arrived early at the air terminal to ensure he had enough time to go through security.

Synonyms

terminal
vsair terminal
76 3.5

A building where passengers begin or end a journey, for example at an airport

is limited to airport processing before departure and after arrival
airport terminal
vsair terminal
3 2.8

A building at an airport where passengers get on and off planes

focuses on processing before departure and after arrival rather than boarding

How Big

air terminal
1 3.5

Surface Forms

air terminal singular
air terminals plural

Morphology

air + terminal

The meaning 'a building at an airport where passengers or cargo are processed' is directly derivable from 'air' (relating to aviation) + 'terminal' (a building/area for passenger or cargo transfer), forming a straightforward noun–noun compound. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English word-building, so an average B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand it.

Etymology

Air terminal joins air, meaning airplanes, and terminal, meaning a 'last stop' or main station. It is the building at an airport where passengers 'start' or 'finish' their journey, so the name helps us remember it is where people and luggage are checked before departure and after arrival.