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Glite Dictionary
terminal emulation

terminal emulation

7.2
A way to make a computer act like an old screen and keyboard to connect to remote servers
  • noun
  • /ˈtɜrmɪnəl ˌɛmjuˈleɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : emulación de terminal
  • The software provides terminal emulation for remote access.

Examples

  • Many network administrators use terminal emulation to access servers remotely.

  • With terminal emulation, a desktop PC can communicate with legacy mainframe computers.

  • You can install software that offers terminal emulation on almost any modern operating system.

  • Can you explain terminal emulation to me?

  • Using terminal emulation, the software allowed users to connect to the mainframe from their personal computers.

  • The terminal emulation feature enables remote access to legacy systems without requiring dedicated hardware.

  • With terminal emulation, programmers can run old applications on modern machines as if they were using the original terminal.

Synonyms

emulation
vsterminal emulation
  • Specialized
3 6.7

Software that makes one computer act like another so users can run its programs

is specifically about making a computer behave as a simple remote input output device

Surface Forms

terminal emulation singular
terminal emulations plural

Morphology

terminal + emulation

The meaning is directly compositional: 'terminal' (a command/interface endpoint) combined with 'emulation' (replicating another system) yields 'emulation of a terminal' — i.e., making a system behave like a terminal. Although technical, the parts transparently combine and the logic is cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows both words can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Terminal emulation comes from the idea of a modern computer pretending to be an old hardware terminal so it can 'talk to' a big remote computer. The word emulation means 'pretend to be', so the phrase explains making one machine 'act like' a terminal to 'access remote systems'.