conclude

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kənˈkluːd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English concluden, borrowed from Latin conclūdō (“to shut up, enclose, end”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from com- (“completely, together”) and claudō (“to shut”) (see close).^[2][3][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To shut off or win an argument: before 1325, in Cursor Mundi, in Barnhart; the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

To reach a conclusion, to infer, is from about 1380, in Chaucer's Boethius,^[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3] To bring to an end is also from the late 14th century,^[3] or before 1420 in Barnhart.^[2] To enclose or include, now obsolete, is from about 1386,^[7] to bind to a course of action from 1393,^[7] and to settle or arrange finally, as a treaty, from the early 15th century.^[3] Conclusion is probably from about 1370, in Chaucer.^[2] In Yorkshire, Kent and Surrey dialect to conclude was to decide or arrange.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to win an argument.^[2]
• c. 1370 – conclusion.^[2]
• c. 1380 – to infer.^[2]
• c. 1386 – to include (obsolete).^[7]
• early 15th century – to settle finally.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To bring or come to an end.
2. To decide by reasoning; to deduce: the judge concluded that the witness had told the truth.
3. To arrange or settle finally: to conclude a treaty.
4. (obsolete) To confine.

Word family

• concluder
• concludable
• unconcluded

Related words

• conclusion
• conclusive
• include
• occlude
• preclude
• close
• exclude

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)