EOL

What does EOL stand for?

End of life

When you come across ‘EOL’ in contexts like manufacturing, it signifies that a product has reached its end of life and is now obsolete. This term is quite common in industries like the military, warehouse production, and software development.

In military parlance, ‘EOL’ is used to mark the end of a piece of equipment’s service life, be it tanks, planes, or other vehicles. For instance, you might see old aircrafts in museums with an EOL label.

‘EOL’ also finds its use in the world of software and hardware. Users might get an EOL notification from the developers indicating that the software or hardware they are using is coming to a halt. This could happen if you’ve bought an app and the developers decide to stop updating it because they are focusing on a new project or they are winding up their business.

Sometimes, ‘EOL’ can also refer to the end of a living being’s life – human or animal. People generally use ‘EOL’ in this context when talking about care at the end of someone’s life.

Example for using ‘EOL’ in a conversation

Hey, did you hear the news?

No, what’s up?

The software I’ve been using just sent me an EOL notice.

Oh, really? What does that mean?

It means the software is reaching its end of life and won’t be updated anymore.