coterminous

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparabletechnical

   Sharing the same border or outer limit with another area, so the two cover exactly the same ground.

   Grammar: Usually followed by with: the parish is coterminous with the old village.

   Patterns

   • be coterminous with something

   The school district is coterminous with the city limits.

   The county's boundary is coterminous with the river valley.

   The two voting areas are coterminous.

2. 2adjectivecomparableformal

   Covering the same stretch of time, or starting and ending together with something else.

   Grammar: Often followed by with: the lease is coterminous with the job contract.

   Patterns

   • be coterminous with something

   Her contract is coterminous with the length of the project.

   The warranty is coterminous with the loan period.

   The two terms of office were nearly coterminous.

3. 3adjectivecomparableformal

   Equal in range or meaning, so that one idea or group fits exactly over the other.

   Grammar: Used in discussion and analysis, often with with: culture is not coterminous with nation.

   Patterns

   • be coterminous with something

   Language is not always coterminous with nationality.

   For him, happiness was coterminous with freedom.

   The two categories are not coterminous, though they overlap.

Common combinations

coterminous with

The company's territory is coterminous with the state.

roughly coterminous

The two districts are roughly coterminous.

coterminous boundaries

The coterminous boundaries made the maps easy to compare.

not necessarily coterminous

Power and wealth are not necessarily coterminous.

coterminous in time

The two reigns were coterminous in time.

Synonyms and how they differ

conterminous

Conterminous is a variant spelling with almost the same meaning, though it more often means sharing a border.

coextensive

Coextensive stresses matching extent or scope and is common in law and logic.

identical

Identical means exactly alike in every way, while coterminous only claims matching limits.

adjacent

Adjacent means next to something, whereas coterminous means covering the same space.

Opposites

Word family

terminus noun

the end point of a line or route

terminal adjective

relating to an end

coterminously adverb

in a way that shares the same limits

terminate verb

to bring to an end

Commonly confused: coterminous or conterminous?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “coterminous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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