end

Pronunciation

• IPA: /end/^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ende, inherited from Old English ende (“end, conclusion; boundary; district”),^[3][4] from Proto-Germanic *andiaz, originally “the opposite side”,^[3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ant- (“front, forehead”).^[3][6] Its cognates include Dutch einde, German Ende, Old Norse endir and Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐍃 (andeis),^[3][7] and outside Germanic Sanskrit अन्त (ánta, “end, boundary”), Latin ante (“before”) and Ancient Greek ἀντί (antí, “against”).^[8][5][9] The verb is inherited from Old English endian (“to end, finish; to die”), from the noun.^[3][7]

The dialect verb end, “to put hay or grain into a barn” (1607), is probably an alteration of the verb in, “to harvest”.^[10][11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The extremity of something; its conclusion; a boundary; a district (Old English ende, about 725).^[7][3][13]

Semantic evolution

The original sense, the outermost part of something, is obsolete except in the ends of the earth.^[3][12] The senses “destruction, death” and “a quarter of a town” were already Old English,^[3] the latter surviving in East End and West End.^[12][14] The sense “intended result, purpose” is from the 14th century,^[9] and a fragment or remnant (odds and ends) from 1481.^[14][15] To make both ends meet is recorded by 1661–62;^[16][3] Weekley compares French joindre les deux bouts.^[15] Weekley derives at a loose end from an unattached rope at sea and to keep one's end up from cricket.^[15] An end, a share in an enterprise, is originally American (1903).^[14][17] The end meant “the last straw” from 1929 and in jazz slang “the very best” from 1950 in the OED, 1938 in the New Partridge.^[13][17] Later phrases include end zone (1909), to end it all, to commit suicide (by 1911), and at the end of the day (1970s).^[3][16]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English ende.^[7]
• c. 950 – Old English verb endian.^[7]
• 14th century – purpose, intended result.^[9]
• 1481 – a fragment, remnant.^[14]
• 1534 – a final cause, purpose.^[14]
• 1661 – make both ends meet.^[16]
• 1851 – the side of a field held by one team.^[3]
• 1903 – a share (US).^[14]
• 1929 – the end, the last straw.^[13][3]
• 1970s – at the end of the day.^[16]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The final part of something, or the point at which it stops: the end of the day.
2. Either extremity of something long: the end of the pier.
3. The furthest part or limit: the ends of the earth.
4. A result or outcome; a goal or purpose: a means to an end.
5. Death or destruction.
6. A remnant or fragment: a cigarette end.
7. A share of an undertaking: your end of the deal.
8. (sport) The part of a field defended by one side; in American football, a player at the end of the line.
9. (the end, informal) The limit of what can be tolerated.

Verb

1. To bring or come to an end; to finish or cease.
2. To form the last part of: a wedding scene ends the film.
3. To reach a final state or place, often with up: ended up as a colonel.
4. (archaic) To die; to kill.

Adjective

1. Final, ultimate: end results.

Word family

• ended
• ender
• unending
• ending
• never-ending
• be-all and end-all

Related words

• endless
• ante
• anti
• answer

Usage notes

Random House distinguishes end, a natural termination or the attainment of a purpose, from close, a planned rounding off, conclusion, which suggests a decision or arrangement, and finish, the last stage of a process.^[11]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
15. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
17. ^ a b Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge