final, a. and n.
(ˈfaɪnəl)
Also (4 fenal), 4–6 fynal(l, 4–7 finall(e.
[a. F. final, ad. L. fīnāl-is of or pertaining to an end, f. fīnis end.]
A. adj.
1. a. Coming at the end (of a word, a series).
| 1530 Palsgr. Introd. 28 Every feminyn plurell endeth in S, added to the E fynall of his singular. 1821 Shelley Hellas note, The final Chorus is indistinct and obscure. 1838 De Morgan Ess. Probab. 202 A colon placed after the final letter. 1865 Geikie Scen. & Geol. Scot. xiii. 340 In this final chapter let me present the reader with a brief summary. 1881 Football Annual 91 In the final tie they were beaten by the Walsall Swifts. |
† b. Her. in quadrate final, according to Ferne a field bearing a ‘token of arms’ other than a representation of a living creature. Obs.
| [1486 see finial a.] 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie 206 The armes called Quadrates were nine in number, and they were either finall, or Royall. |
c. Law. final process (see quot.). final proof: (U.S.) the process observed in paying for pre-empted land after six months' occupancy.
| 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. xix. 279 Mesne process is..sometimes put in contradistinction to final process, or process of execution. 1884 Milnor (Dakota) Teller 5 Sept., He..makes final proofs and attends to all business of that kind. |
d. final drive (see quot. 1968).
| 1907 R. B. Whitman Motor-car Princ. ix. 138 From the change-speed mechanism the power is passed to the driving wheels by the final drive. 1912 J. Armstrong Motor ix. 173 The final drive..is achieved mostly through the medium of bevel-gear, that..is very nearly as wear⁓resisting as a pair of constantly mated spur-wheels. 1968 Practical Motorist Nov. 333/1 Final drive, the last part of the transmission, consisting of the crown wheel and pinion, differential gears and axle drive shafts. |
2. a. Marking the last stage of a process; leaving nothing to be looked for or expected; ultimate.
| c 1365 Chaucer L.G.W. 2101 Ariadne, This is the fynal ende of al this thyng. c 1440 Govt. Lordschipes (E.E.T.S.) 48 He made many morales epistels to Aristotel of greet delyt to haue his secree fynal. 1504 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iii. lxiv, Dyrecte it by thy grace contynually in this lyfe vnto the fynall countrey of euerlastyng peace. a 1535 More Wks. 578/1 By his word electes, he meneth the finall and eternall electes. 1649 Milton Eikon. Pref., A Person..who hath..payd his finall debt both to Nature and his Faults. 1736 Butler Anal. i. ii. 38 Delay of punishment is no sort nor degree of presumption of final impunity. 1805 Foster Ess. i. iii. 37 The final basis of all character. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 9 Philosophic candour and intelligence are supposed to have hit their final climax. |
b. final demand, (a) an account for goods or services rendered that is the creditor's final attempt to recover the money owed before proceeding to legal action or withdrawing the service; (b) Econ., (a measure of) demand for current output as measured by sales to final buyers, and excluding additions to stock or inventories; also attrib.
| 1969 U.S. Federal Reporter CCCCXI. 876/1 One form is called ‘Final Demand for the Payment of Debt’ and warns the debtor that ‘This Demand is made to give you a last opportunity to pay.’ 1975 Business Week 10 Feb. 20 The recession has already begun to put some real pressures on the price side because of the shrinkage of final demand. 1982 Financial Times 2 Jan. 4/8 Relative to final demand, inventories of most metals are low throughout the supply chain. 1982 Financial Times 30 Mar. i. 18/5 Make sure the factor informs the client when it is sending final demands and solicitors' letters to customers. |
3. a. Putting an end to something (rarely const. of, to); putting an end to strife or uncertainty; not to be undone, altered, or revoked; conclusive.
Formerly often in phr. final peace or final concord = med.L. finalis pax, concordia.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 338 Þe parties wold mak a finalle pes. c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 259 Taak this for fynal answere as of me. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn x. 40 His resolucion fynall was. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk xi, But syth we could no fynall peace induce. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 51 At last, resolv'd to work his finall smart, He lifted up his hand. 1625 Bacon Ess., Greatn. Kingd. (Arb.) 489 Examples, where Sea-Fights have beene Finall to the warre. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 95 Treason does ever produce fatal and final destruction to the offender. 1771 Junius Lett. xlix. 255 You would long since have received your final dismission and reward. 1797 G. Washington in Sir J. Sinclair Corr. (1831) II. 26 Nothing final in Congress has been decided respecting the institution of a National Board of Agriculture. 1827 Hood Mids. Fairies xxxiv, Time shall be final of all things. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xii. 89 We made a series of final measurements. |
b. final solution [tr. G. endlösung]: name given to the German policy, from 1941, of exterminating Jewish people in Europe; the process of massacring these victims.
| 1947 Trial German Major War Criminals (H.M.S.O.) xi. p. ix, Final solution of the Jewish question. 1949 D. Macardle Children of Europe vi. 110 As the ‘final solution’, camps fitted with gas-chambers, electrocution plants and huge crematoria were erected in Poland. 1953 G. Reitlinger (title) The final solution. 1961 Observer 17 Dec. 10/3 The formal adoption of the Final Solution, ordaining the extermination of European Jewry,..on July 31, 1941. |
4. Having regard to end or purpose: chiefly in final cause (see cause n. 4 b); final clause (Gram.), a clause expressing purpose or intention.
| c 1400 Test. Love ii. (1560) 281 b/2 Aristotle supposeth that the actes of every thing been in a manner his finall cause. 1583 Exec. for Treason (1675) 42 The very causes final of these Rebellions..have been to depose her Majesty from her Crown. 1606 Sir G. Goosecappe iii. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 53 Wer't not for women, who of all mens pompes Are the true final causes. 1878 Morley Condorcet Crit. Misc. 76 All predispositions are destined to develope themselves according to their final purpose. [See also cause n. 4 b.] |
B. n.
1. the adj. used absol. † a. for final = finally, conclusively. in final = in conclusion (obs.). b. That which comes last; completion, end, finish. Now rare.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iv. 145 Thembassadours ben answered for fynal. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 383 And now to speke as in finall Touchend that I undertoke. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 20 b, Those two Pilots had..trauailed to bring to finall and execution their diuellish intent. 1617 Collins Def. Bp. Ely II. x. 427 The heele is the finall, the bottome of Gods workemanship. 1854 S. Dobell Balder xxv. 186 Finish each stern power To such an exquisite final that it ends A plumèd feeling. |
2. In various applications due to elliptical uses of the adj.: e.g. a. The final letter of a word. † b. Music. (see quot. 1885). c. Athletics. The deciding game, heat, or trial. d. The last of a series of examinations; also pl. (Oxford colloq.).
| 1609 Douland Ornith. Microl. 15 Euery Song ending in the Finals, is regular and not transposed. Ibid. 41 Euery crooked Finall, whether it ascend or descend, is a Breefe. 1627 Abp. Ussher Lett. (1686) 383 Without any difference of Initials and Finals. 1880 A. Gibson (title), Aids to the Final [Law examination]. 1880 Amateur Athletic Assoc. Laws for Meetings 21 The best three competitors of the first trial shall be allowed three more tries each for the final. 1885 W. S. Rockstro in Encycl. Brit. XIX. 169/1 The intervals of each ‘mode’ [of plain chant] are derived from a fundamental sound, called its ‘final.’ (Note. Analogous to the tonic or key-note of the modern scale.) 1894 Grant Allen in Westm. Gaz. 20 June 2/1 Taking a pass degree in Finals. a 1897 Mod. The initials and finals of these words form a double acrostic. 1933 Bloomfield Lang. viii. 132 In a form like test or text we call the [-t] a main final. 1963 [see environment 2 c]. |
e. The last edition of an issue of a daily newspaper.
| 1931 Sat. Rev. 4 July 17/1 The difference between the English play called ‘Inquest’ and the American play called ‘Late Night Final’ is a fundamental one. 1938 F. Thayer Newspaper Managem. 82 The Daily News published nine regular editions as follows... Final..3:25 P.M. |