finish

pronunciation

How to pronounce finish in British English: UK [ˈfɪnɪʃ] word uk audio image

How to pronounce finish in American English: US [ˈfɪnɪʃ] word us audio image

Noun:

a decorative texture or appearance of a surface (or the substance that gives it that appearance)
designated event that concludes a contest (especially a race)
the act of finishing
the place designated as the end (as of a race or journey)
the temporal end; the concluding time
(wine tasting) the taste of a wine on the back of the tongue (as it is swallowed)
event whose occurrence ends something
the downfall of someone (as of persons on one side of a conflict)
a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality
Verb:

come or bring to a finish or an end
finally be or do something
have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical
provide with a finish
finish eating all the food on one's plate or on the table
cause to finish a relationship with somebody

Word Origin

finish: finish: [14] The Latin verb *fīnīre, a derivative of fīnis ‘end, limit’, signified ‘limit’ as well as ‘complete’, but it is the latter which has come down to English via feniss-, the stem of Old French fenir. The Latin past participle, fīnītus, gave English finite [15].=> final, finance, fine, finite

finish (v.): late 14c., "to bring to an end;" mid-15c., "to come to an end" (intransitive), from Old French finiss-, present participle stem of fenir "stop, finish, come to an end; die" (13c.), from Latin finire "to limit, set bounds; put an end to; come to an end," from finis "that which divides, a boundary, border," figuratively "a limit, an end, close, conclusion; an extremity, highest point; greatest degree," which is of unknown origin, perhaps related to figere "to fasten, fix" (see fix (v.)). Meaning "to kill, terminate the existence of" is from 1755.

finish (n.): 1779, "that which finishes or gives completion," from finish (v.). Meaning "the end" is from 1790. Finish line attested from 1873.

vt.

vt. & vi.