【Limit】 , 【bound】 , 【confine】 , 【end】 , 【term】 are comparable when they mean an actual or imaginary line beyond which a thing does not or cannot extend.
【Limit】 is the most inclusive of these terms because it carries no necessary implication of number, that always being suggested by the context; thus, a thing (as a man’s strength, the extent of his authority, or the reach of his arm) may be said to have a 【limit】 , implying one only; some other thing (as a race course, a lifetime, or a period of time) may be said to have its limits, but since linear extent and duration are specifically implied, these limits are by implication two in number.
Also, 【limit】 may be applied to a line which is fixed by nature or inner necessity, established by authority, or determined by agreement.
【Bound】 and 【confine】 , on the other hand, are applicable to only one of the limits that comprise the real or imaginary boundaries of a thing. Both terms are used chiefly in the plural, even when the boundary line is continuous and forms a circle or only one side; the same is true of a bounding surface that forms a sphere.
The distinctions between these two words are not always apparent; however, bounds usually indicates a point of view from within and suggests restriction, and confines indicates a point of view either from within or without and suggests enclosure.
【End】 (see also 【END】 2 ) ( INTENTION ) applies usually to one of the two uttermost limits or extremes of a thing; this use is chiefly found in idiomatic phrases <travel to the ends of the earth> but it occurs also in reference to either extreme in an ascending or descending scale, or in a series that progresses from one extreme to its diametrical opposite <at one 【end】 of the social scale there is the outcast or the pariah; at the other 【end】 , the elite> <admired from one 【end】 of Europe to the other —Andrews >
【Term】 applies usually to a 【limit】 in duration <neither history nor archaeology has yet put a 【term】 to Roman civilization in London —William Page >
