According to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), "terms of reference"
first appeared in 1892 in the following context:
1892 Daily Graphic (Suppl.) 30 Dec. 3/1 On the 14th October the
constitution of the Commission and the exact terms of reference were
made known.
Subsiquent early uses include:
1913 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1912 549 The nature of the Inquiry of
the Industrial Council is explained in the following ?terms of
reference?. 1927 [see REFER v. 8a]. 1967 G. F. FIENNES I tried to run
Railway vii. 88 We wrote ourselves new terms of reference in that
sense. a1974 R. CROSSMAN Diaries (1976) II. 661, I had to point out
this was not excluded by the Committee's terms of reference, which had
been drafted after consultation with the Foreign Office.
The phrase is defined as:
(a). terms of reference: the points referred to an individual or body
of persons for decision or report; that which defines the scope of an
inquiry. to come to terms: to agree upon conditions; to come to an
agreement about something to be done; also fig. (const. with), to
reconcile oneself to, to become reconciled with; so to bring to terms.
to keep terms: to keep up negotiations, to have or continue to have
dealings with; to deal with or treat in a particular way; also fig. to
?have to do with?, be connected with. to make terms: to agree upon
conditions, come to a settlement (= come to terms). {dag}to stand on
or upon terms: to insist upon conditions; to stand upon one's rights
or dignity.
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