closure

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkləʊ.ʒə(ɹ)/ (UK); /ˈkloʊ.ʒɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, borrowed from Old French closure (“enclosure, fastening, wall, fence”),^[2][3][4] from Late Latin clausura (“lock, fortress, a closing”),^[2][5] from the past participle stem of claudere (“to close”) (see close).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which encloses, a fence or barrier: about 1386 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

An entrenchment or fort (before 1400–50) and an enclosed place (1386) are obsolete senses.^[6] The act of enclosing or confining is from about 1420,^[6] and the act of closing or bringing to a close from 1600 (the early 15th century in Etymonline).^[6][2] Hoad treats the sense conclusion as a new formation on close in the 16th century.^[5] In legislation it is the stopping of debate by a vote (compare cloture).^[2][7] In Gestalt psychology, the tendency to form ordered, satisfying wholes is from 1924,^[2] and the chiefly American sense, a feeling of resolution after a painful event, is later.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1386 – a barrier.^[6]
• c. 1420 – enclosure.^[6]
• 16th century – a conclusion.^[5]
• 1600 – the act of closing.^[6]
• 1924 – in Gestalt psychology.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of closing, or the state of being closed.
2. Something that closes or seals, such as a cap.
3. An end or conclusion.
4. A procedure for ending a debate and taking a vote; cloture.
5. (chiefly US) A sense of resolution after a distressing experience.

Word family

• foreclosure
• nonclosure
• preclosure

Related words

• close
• cloture
• clause
• enclosure
• cloister

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins