fermeture

Fermeture is a French noun meaning the act of closing, shutting, or ending something. It derives from the verb fermer, “to close.” The term is used in everyday language as well as in technical or formal contexts to describe both the process and the result of ceasing operation, confinement, or completion.

In everyday usage, fermeture appears when a business or facility stops operating either temporarily or permanently. For example, a shop may announce a fermeture during holidays or a facility may undergo a temporary fermeture for maintenance. The word also appears in phrases such as fermeture des comptes (closing of accounts) or the fermeture of a contract or service, indicating that a particular activity has ended.

In mathematics and logic, fermeture designates a closure operation. It is the smallest superset of a given set that is closed under a specified operation. Examples include the reflexive, symmetric, or transitive closures of a relation, or the topological closure of a set. More broadly, fermeture captures the idea of making a structure complete with respect to a rule, without introducing elements outside that rule’s scope.

In policy and economics, fermeture is used for actions taken by authorities to close or restrict activity, such as fermeture administrative or fermeture des frontières. Such closures can be temporary, due to safety or economic concerns, or permanent, as in the fermeture of a plant or business. The term is distinct from clôture, which more often refers to a boundary, fence, or the act of closing a book or accounts.