Bill Terry, the Hall of Famer who was the last player to bat .400 in the National League, died yesterday in Jacksonville, Fla. He was 90 years old, and had been in failing health for several months.

Terry, the first baseman and manager for the New York Giants, compiled a career batting average of .341 in 14 major league seasons. His .401 average in 1930 lifted him into the exclusive club of only eight players who topped the mark after 1900.

Terry drove in 100 or more runs for six consecutive seasons, starting in 1927. He finished his career with 1,078 runs batted in.

He had 2,193 career hits and 154 home runs.

A left-handed line-drive hitter who spent all his playing years with the Giants, Terry was also one of the premier fielding first basemen. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1954.

Yet for Terry, who became a wealthy automobile distributor in Jacksonville, Fla., the early years in baseball were uncertain and trying. Once, as a minor leaguer in Shreveport, La., he had to pawn his wife's wedding ring to buy food.

He was born in Atlanta Oct. 30, 1898, but spent most of his youth in Memphis. After playing in the minors from 1914 to 1918, he became despondent and spent the next four years operating a filling station and playing semi-professional ball in Memphis.

Then the Giants, learning of his talents, acquired his contract in 1922. He spent two seasons at Toledo, Ohio, in the American Association playing first base, pitching and even managing. Manager John McGraw of the Giants brought him up in 1924. A Feared First Baseman

Terry was a part-time player his first three seasons with the Giants, sharing first base with George Kelly. He became a regular when Kelly was traded to Cincinnati in 1927, and turned into one of the National League's most feared hitters. His batting average did not dip below .322 until his final playing season, 1936, when he finished with .310.

His relationship with McGraw and the front office was often stormy. He was a perpetual holdout in the spring, usually challenging the club to ''pay me or trade me.''

But when McGraw decided to give up the manager's duties after 30 years' service, he picked Terry as his successor, to the surprise of most fans. As manager from June 3, 1932, until the end of the 1941 season, Terry won three pennants (in 1933, 1936 and 1937) and the World Series in 1933. Infamous Line

During his stint as manager he had strained relations with his teammates and the press. He was never permitted to forget the line he uttered in 1934: ''Is Brooklyn still in the league?'' The Dodgers, relishing the opportunity, beat the Giants in the final two games of that season and knocked them out of the pennant race.

After the 1941 season Terry handed over the manager's reins to Mel Ott and became general manager for one year. Then he left baseball and amassed a fortune in oil and cotton speculation before concentrating on his automobile distributorship.

From 1954 until 1958 he served as president of the South Atlantic League. He was frequently rumored in line for managerial jobs in the majors, but never again gave in to the temptation to don a uniform.

''He was a good manager. He knew the game,'' said Leo Durocher, who played and managed against Terry. ''When you play under a man like John McGraw all those years, you learn the game.''

Referring to his early professional days as a pitcher, Terry once said: ''I still think I would have made a first-class pitcher, but even for a left-hander, I found my control entirely too good. I simply couldn't keep that ball away from the other fellows' bats, and right there I decided that if ever I hoped to get anywhere, it would have to be at the other end of the pitch.''

Asked what his formula for hitting was, he said: ''Confidence, my boy, confidence.

''I don't mean a fellow can start right out knocking a ball lopsided by simply saying to himself he can do it. What I do mean is that if you want to accomplish something, you must have confidence in your method of doing it.''

Mr. Terry's wife, Vena, died in 1983. He is survived by three sons, William Jr. and Ray of Jacksonville and Ken of Vero Beach, Fla., and a daughter, Marjorie Kadel of Jacksonville.

William H Terry