Terms

"Terms" refers to the specific set of details that identify one particular options contract and distinguish it from every other contract on the same underlying stock. An option is not a single generic thing you buy; it is one of many variations, each defined by a combination of factors, and "the terms" is shorthand for that combination.

The main terms of an options contract are the underlying stock (the shares the option relates to, such as Apple or Tesla), the strike price (the fixed price at which the option lets you buy or sell those shares), the expiration date (the day the contract stops existing), and whether it is a call (a bet on the price going up, or a right to buy) or a put (a bet on the price going down, or a right to sell). Two contracts on the same stock with even one different term, say a different expiration date, are entirely separate contracts with their own price.

The nuance that trips people up is that "terms" is not negotiable in the way a private contract's terms might be. When you trade a listed option, you are not writing custom terms with a counterparty; you are simply selecting from a standardized menu of strikes and expirations that the exchange has already set up. So "terms" here just means "which exact version of this option are we talking about," used as a quick way to fully specify a contract without listing every attribute each time.

People also sometimes loosely include the option's style (whether it can be exercised only at expiration or any time before) or its multiplier (how many shares one contract controls) under "terms," though the core three are underlying, strike, and expiration.