fulfill

verb — 5 senses

fulfill

verb

/fʊlˈfɪl/ · /fəˈfɪl/

Etymology From Middle English fulfillen, from Old English fullfyllan (“to fill full”). By surface analysis, full- + fill.

1

US To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.).

  • You made a promise, son, and now you must fulfill it.
  • Japanese retail stores have strove to, and have succeeded in, fulfilling these severe demands, and in doing so, have constantly had to innovate both technologically and institutionally in order to keep up with the competition.2013 February 6, Hideo Otake, “Revising the Interpretation of the Japanese Economy”, in Michio Muramatsu, Frieder Naschold, editors, State and Administration in Japan and Germany: A Comparative Perspective on Continuity and Change, page 319:
2

US To emotionally or artistically satisfy; to develop one's gifts to the fullest.

  • This is the most fulfilling work I've ever done.
3

US To obey, follow, comply with (a rule, requirement etc.).

  • Unfortunately, you don't fulfill the criteria for extra grants at the present time.
4

Business US To package, distribute, or ship goods.

5

US, Archaic To fill full; fill to the utmost capacity; fill up.

  • My lady is positively fulfilled of grace.
  • The silence which benumbs or strains the sense Fulfils with awe the soul's despair unweeping1870, James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night:
Derived terms
fulfillment, fulfilment, fulfillable, fulfilled, fulfiller, fulfilling, overfulfill, self-fulfilling prophecy, unfulfill, unfulfilled, unfulfillment, wish-fulfilling

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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