end meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

end

nounalso spelled End

/ɛnd/ · /iːnd/

Etymology

From Middle English ende, from Old English ende, from Proto-West Germanic *andī, from Proto-Germanic *andijaz (“end”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂entíos (“forehead; front”), from *h₂ent- (“face; forehead; front”), from *h₂en- (“on, onto”). Cognates Cognate with Yola een, eene (“end”), Saterland Frisian Eend, Eende (“end”), West Frisian ein (“end”), Alemannic German End, Endi (“end”), Central Franconian Eng, Enk (“end”), Cimbrian énte (“end”), Dutch eind, einde, end (“end”), German Ende (“end”), Luxembourgish Enn (“end”), Vilamovian end, ent (“end”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk ende (“end”), Faroese endi (“end”), Icelandic endi, endir (“end”), Swedish ända, ände (“end”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐍃 (andeis, “end”); also Irish éadan (“end; front”), Manx eddin (“face; front”), Scottish Gaelic aodann (“face; hillside”), Latin antiae (“forelock”), Ancient Greek ἀντίος (antíos, “opposite”), Albanian anë (“brink; edge; facet; side”), Latvian no (“for; from”), Lithuanian nuo (“for; from”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian на (na, “on”), Czech, Kashubian, Lower Sorbian, Polish, Slovak, and Slovene na (“on”), Serbo-Croatian на, na (“on”), Old Armenian ընդ (ənd, “in the place, instead of”), Old Persian 𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎹 (abiy, “against; towards; upon”), Tocharian A ānt (“in front”), Tocharian B ānte (“in front of”), Sanskrit अन्त (anta, “boundary; border, edge; end, termination”). More at and and anti-. The verb is from Middle English enden, endien, from Old English endian (“to end, to make an end of, complete, finish, abolish, destroy, come to an end, die”), from Proto-Germanic *andijōną (“to finish, end”), denominative from *andijaz.

14 senses

1The terminal point of something in space or time.
2Share of joint responsibility.
3The cessation of an effort, activity, state, or motion.
4Death.
5The most extreme point of an object, especially one that…
6Result.
7A purpose, goal, or aim.
8One of the two parts of the ground used as a descriptive…
9The position at the end of either the offensive or…
10A period of play in which each team throws eight rocks…
11An ideal point of a graph or other complex. See End…
12That which is left; a remnant; a fragment; a scrap.
13A single warp thread.
14Money.

The terminal point of something in space or time.

they followed him... into a sort of a central hall; out of which they could dimly see other long tunnel-like passages branching, passages mysterious and without apparent end.1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

4 more examples

An epidemic of the disease started in Lü-shun at the end of 1927 and extended to April 1928, involving 271 cases with 14 deaths (Migai, 1928).1946, Tsai-yu Hsiao, Epidemiology of the Diseases of Naval Importance in Manchuria, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, →OCLC, page 20:
At the end of the garden there was a beautiful fountain.
At the end of the story, the main characters fall in love.
As it was a great play, the audience applauded at the end.

Share of joint responsibility.

Are you sure they'll honor their end of the deal?

Broadly The cessation of an effort, activity, state, or motion.

Is there no end to this madness?
The new electronic switching system means expanded service and an end to irritances such as cross-talk, line-hum, and being cut off in mid-conversation.1986, The Army Communicator, volume 11, number 2, page 46:

Broadly, Often, With definite article Death.

He met a terrible end in the jungle.
I hope the end comes quickly.

3 more examples

Confound your hidden falsehood, and award / Either of you to be the other's end.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
A safe companion and an easy friend / Unblamed through life, lamented in thy end.1732, Alexander Pope, (epitaph) On Mr. Gay, in Westminster Abbey
Regulators and developers should consider the privacy risks. But more than anything, Sparrow thinks we should all reflect on how we prepare for the end. “My mother has late-stage cancer, she’s clearly thinking about her own death, and so she is going through a process of throwing out all the things she doesn’t want the kids to deal with and prepping her house,” he says.2025 March 5, Patricia Clarke, “You and me, we gonna live forever … as avatars, at least”, in The Observer:

The most extreme point of an object, especially one that is longer than it is wide.

Hold the string at both ends.
My father always sat at the end of the table nearest the kitchen.

1 more example

All the ends of the woꝛld ſhall remember, and turne vnto the Lord: and all the kinreds of the nations ſhall woꝛſhip befoꝛe thee.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 22:27:

Result.

O that a man might know / The end of this day's business ere it come!1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
The end was that he was thought an archfool.1876, Great Britain. Public Record Office, John Sherren Brewer, Robert Henry Brodie, James Gairdner, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII (volume 4, issue 3, part 2, page 3154)

A purpose, goal, or aim.

For what end should I toil?
The end of our club is to advance conversation and friendship.

3 more examples

But, losing her, the End of Living lose.1675, John Dryden, chapter III, in Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC:
When every man is his own end, all things will come to a bad end.1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aids to Reflection in the Formation of a Manly Character, Aphorism VI, page 146:
There is a long argument to prove that foreign conquest is not the end of the State, showing that many people took the imperialist view.1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.21:

Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports One of the two parts of the ground used as a descriptive name for half of the ground.

The Pavillion End

American football, Ball games, Football, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The position at the end of either the offensive or defensive line, a tight end, a split end, a defensive end.

Her husband, among various physical accomplishments, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven […].1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN:

Ball games, Curling, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A period of play in which each team throws eight rocks, two per player, in alternating fashion.

Mathematics, Sciences An ideal point of a graph or other complex. See End (graph theory)

That which is left; a remnant; a fragment; a scrap.

odds and ends
I clothe my naked villainy / With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ, / And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

Business, Manufacturing, Textiles, Weaving A single warp thread.

Wind a warp of 459 ends 3¾ yd long, following the warp color order in Figure 1.2026, Shelby Moravec, “Flight of the Dragonflies Scarf”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 28:

In plural, Slang Money.

African-American Vernacular

Don't give them your ends. You jack that shit!

Synonyms: conclusion, limit, terminus, termination
Antonyms: beginning, start
Derived terms: 342 terms
3′ end, 5′ end, abend, all ends up, all good things come to an end, all good things must come to an end, anend, arse end, Arse-end Charlie, arse end of nowhere, at a loose end, at an end, at loose ends, at one's fingers' ends, at the end of one's tether, at the end of the day, at the receiving end, backend, back-end, back end, bar end, Bar End, baulk end, beam-ends, begin at the wrong end, beginning of the end, bell-end, bell end, best end, big end of town, blank end, bookend, bottom-end, bring an end to, bring to an end, burn one's candle at both ends, burnt ends, burn the candle at both ends, business end, butt end, by-end, candle-end, Church End, cigarette end, closed-end fund, cod end, coend, come to an end, come to a sticky end, compromise to a permanent end, deadend, dead end, dead-end, deep end, dog-end, double-end, draw to an end, end artery, endband, endblown, endboard, end board, endbox, endbrain, endbud, endbulb, end button, end-button, end cap, endcap, end consumer, end-consumer, endcourt, end credits, end-Cretaceous, -ended, end-effector, ender, end feel, end-feel, end-feet, end-foot, end for end, endful, end game, end-game, endgame, endgate, end goal, end grain, endif, end in itself, endism, end item, endknot, end lap, endleaf, end-leaf, endless, endlike, end line, endling, endloader, end lockdown, endly, endman, end mark, endmatcher, end matter, endmember, end member, end-member, endmill, end moraine, endmost, end-node, endnote, endo, end of, end of day, end of days, End of Days, end of discussion, end of history, end-of-history illusion, end of life, end-of-life, end of quote, end of story, end of terrace, end of the day, end of the line, end-of-the-pier, end of the rainbow, end of the road, end of the world, end-of-train, end of watch, end on, end-on, end-on-end, end organ, end-organ, endpaper, end piece, endpiece, endpin, endplate, end play, endplay, end point, endpoint, end product, end quote, end result, end rhyme, end run, endsay, end-scraper, endscraper, end screen, endsheet, end slate, ends of the earth, ends of the world, endsome, endspan, endspeech, endstage, end state, endstation, endstone, end table, end-tidal, endtime, end times, end titles, end-to-end, end-Triassic mass extinction, end user, end-user license agreement, end user license agreement, endward, endwards, endways, endwise, endwork, end zone, every stick has two ends, extra ends, face like the back end of a bus, fag end, fag-end, follow someone to the ends of the earth, follow someone to the ends of the world, fore-end, forend, free end, beginning to end, front end, front-end, front end loader, front-end loader, front-end processor, fuzzy end of the lollipop, gable end, game-end, genetic dead end, get one's end away, get one's end in, get on the end of, go to the ends of the earth, go to the ends of the world, headend, hear the end of it, high-end, high end, hold up one's end, hot end, idiot end, in at the deep end, in the end, keep one's end up, knob end, knob-end, know which end is up, latter end, light at the end of the tunnel, like the back end of a bus, live end dead end, look beyond the end of one's nose, look past the end of one's nose, loose ends, low-end, make both ends meet, make ends meet, make someone's hair stand on end, means to an end, meet a sticky end, meet one's end, middle-end, month's end, most an end, New End, nob end, nob-end, no end, nose-ender, not know which end is up, not the end of the world, odds and ends, off the deep end, on end, on one's beam ends, on the receiving end, open-end fund, open-end spinning, other end, other end of the ball, paired-end tag, play both ends against the middle, pointier end, pointiest end, pointy end, put an end to, quote end quote, rainbow's end, rear-end, rear-end collision, rope's-end, rope's end, rough end of the pineapple, scrag end, scrag-end, beyond the end of one's nose, past the end of one's nose, shallow end, sharp end, sharp end of one's tongue, shit end of the stick, shoemaker's end, short end, short end of the stick, show end, small end of the wedge, snitches get stitches and end up in ditches, Southend, Southend-on-Sea, standing end, stand on end, sticky end, stone end, stub end, tag end, tail-end, tail end, tailend, the end justifies the means, the end of one's rope, the ends justify the means, there are two ends to every stick, thick end, thin end of the wedge, think no end of oneself, this is the end, thrombo-end-arterectomy, through the wrong end of the telescope, throw in at the deep end, tie up loose ends, tight end, time of the end, to no end, top-end, top end of town, to that end, to the end of the chapter, to the end of time, to this end, to what end, Townsend, unend, upend, up-end, warp end, war to end all war, war to end all wars, waxed end, wax-end, wax end, week-end, weekend, well end, wet end, without end, wit's end, wits' end, work both ends against the middle, working end, world without end, wrong end of the stick, yearend, year-end
Hyponyms: 60 terms
big end, bitter end, living end, loose end, rear end, small end, split end, the end, tight end, weekend, world's end, Audley End, Bar End, Bourne End, Bridge End, Bridgend, Church End, Cliffsend, Cliffs End, Commercial End, Crouch End, East End, Elmers End, Four Lane Ends, Hale End, Hatch End, Heath End, Hedge End, Hill End, Hook End, Hulme End, Hundred End, Knott End, Knott End-on-Sea, Land's End, Lane End, Lane Ends, Lochend, Mile End, Mill End, New End, North End, Park End, Parkend, Ponders End, Princes End, Rood End, Shenley Church End, Streetly End, Town End, Townend, Wallsend, Well End, West End, Whitlock's End, Wood End, Woodend, World's End, Worlds End, Wreaks End

end

verb

Etymology

Ergative To come to an end.

Is this movie never going to end?
The lesson will end when the bell rings.

To conclude; to bring something to an end.

The orchestra ended with a performance of Dvořák.

To finish, terminate.

The referee blew the whistle to end the game.
And on the seventh day God ended his worke[…]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 2:2:

4 more examples

If thou keep promise, I shall end this strifec. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
But play the man, stand up and end you, / When your sickness is your soul.1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, XLV, lines 7-8:
So, subject to the salvaging of serviceable parts, all five were withdrawn for breaking up in 1936-7, and thus ended one of the shortest histories of an important locomotive class on record.1949 May and June, R. A. H. Weight, “A Short-Lived Pacific Class”, in Railway Magazine, page 196:
Ending civil wars is hard. Hatreds within countries often run far deeper than between them. The fighting rarely sticks to battlefields, as it can do between states. Civilians are rarely spared. And there are no borders to fall back behind.2013 November 9, “How to stop the fighting, sometimes”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8861:

Synonyms: absolve, complete, conclude, consummate, discontinue, do, end, finalize, finish, fullcome, get through, round off, stay, stop, terminate, wind up
Antonyms: begin, commence, execute, inaugurate, launch, start, continue, maintain, proceed, restart
Derived terms: 25 terms
all's well that ends well, be-all and end-all, be-all end-all, endable, end-all and be-all, end-all be-all, end in, ending, end in smoke, end in tears, end it all, end off, end one's days, end one's life, end out, end scene, end up, Father Charles goes down and ends battle, my watch has ended, neverending, never-ending, nonending, September that never ended, unend, unending
Related terms: final
Hyponyms: accomplish, desist, finish off, fulfill, hang up

End

noun

A key that when pressed causes the cursor to go to the last character of the current line.

Antonyms: Home

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