Etymologically
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conclude

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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

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)