Final

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈfaɪnl̩/

Definitions

1. Being the last or concluding part of a series or process ; relating to the ultimate or decisive result or choice ; a decisive examination or judgment that determines an outcome
2. Describing something that comes at the end, finishing a sequence ; referring to the ultimate or conclusive factor ; an examination or decision made to conclusively settle something
3. Indicating the concluding stage or event ; connected to the most important or determining aspect ; a final test or ruling that decides a situation

Etymology: Old English had a native word for this sense, "endly", and it lost the contest. Middle English took "final" from Old French, which had borrowed it from Latin "fīnālis", meaning "of or relating to the end or to boundaries". That Latin adjective grew from "fīnis", "end", which is also the root of "finish", "finite" and "define", since to define something was originally to mark its boundary. The adjective's Latin sense of "boundary" is therefore the older meaning, and the sense of "ending" came second. The English word replaced "endly", which had been the ordinary native way to say "final". The borrowed term won out and the older word dropped from use, so "final" now covers the whole range of meanings, from the last item in a sequence to a decisive settlement of a question.

Synonyms: last, ultimate, conclusive, decisive, terminal

Antonyms: initial, first, beginning, preliminary, intermediate