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end

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Pronunciation

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The original sense, the outermost part of something, is obsolete except in the ends of the earth.[3][12] The senses “destruction, death” and “a quarter of a town” were already Old English,[3] the latter surviving in East End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
  • 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