finir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fi.niʁ/^[1]

Forms

finir^[1] Old French fenir (about 1100); finir from the 13th century, remade after fin.^[2][3][4] Old French more often used finer, formed directly on the noun.^[5][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fenir, inherited from Latin fīniō (“to limit, bound; to finish”), from fīnis (“boundary, end”).^{[2][3][6][7][1]} The Old French form “fenir” arose by dissimilation of the two “i” sounds; it was remade early as “finir” after the noun fin.^[2][5][6] In Latin the verb meant “to limit” and “to finish”, and intransitively “to come to an end, to die”.^[2]

Cognate with Old Occitan fenir, Catalan finir and Italian finire.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1100 the Chanson de Roland uses fenir transitively, “to bring to an end, complete”: Ses barons mande pur sun cunseill fenir “he summons his barons to finish his council”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The intransitive sense, “to come to an end in time or space”, is found in Wace in 1130–40.^[2] At the end of the 13th century it also meant “to put an end to, make cease”, and finir de with an infinitive, “to stop doing”, dates from 1573.^[2][4] En finir “to have done with something unpleasant” is recorded by the Académie in 1798.^[2]

In the 17th century finir took the sense “to bring to perfection” (before 1660, Scarron), whence the participle fini “perfect of its kind” (1688).^[2][4] The participle in the sense “limited” (Oresme, 1370–82) survives mainly in philosophy, as in Descartes (1647) and Pascal.^[2] Finir par with an infinitive, “to end up doing”, is found in Buffon in 1805.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Fenir in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1130–1140 – Intransitive use in Wace.^[2]
• 13th century – The form finir.^[2][4]
• 1370–1382 – Fini “limited” in Oresme.^[2]
• 1573 – Finir de “to stop doing”.^[2]
• 1647 – Fini as a philosophical term in Descartes.^[2]
• 1798 – En finir in the Académie dictionary.^[2]
• 1805 – Finir par “to end up” in Buffon.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To finish, complete: finir un travail.^[8][9]
2. To put the finishing touches to, perfect: finir une pièce.^[8][10]
3. To spend the last part of a period: finir ses jours à la campagne.^[4][1]
4. To come to an end, stop: le spectacle finit tard.^[10]
5. Finir par: to end up doing: il a fini par accepter.^[1][2]
6. En finir: to have done with, settle something once and for all.^[2]

Word family

• finissage
• finisseur

Related words

• défini
• fin
• fini
• finition
• indéfini
• infini

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 556b
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)