1. An end instrument that converts user information into signals for transmission or reconverts the received signals into user information.
2. The functional unit of a data station that serves as a data source or a data sink and provides for the data communication control function to be performed in accordance with link protocol.
Note 1: The data terminal equipment (DTE) may be a single piece of equipment or an interconnected subsystem of multiple pieces of equipment that perform all the required functions necessary to permit users to communicate.
Note 2: A user interacts with the DTE, or the DTE may be the user. The DTE interacts with the data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE).
Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from MIL-STD-188