deadline

See also: dead line

English

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, early usage refers to lines that do not move, such as one used in angling. Slightly later American usage refers to a boundary in a prison which prisoners must not cross. There is only indirect evidence that the sense of "due date" may be connected with this use of the term in prison camps during the American Civil War, when it referred to a physical line or boundary beyond which prisoners were shot. In 1904, in a report from the US Department of Commerce and Labor, the term is used for "minimum work goals" (and in contrast to bonus line): for example, as a typographer the line could be 18,000 ems per day; should one not cross this line, then that could have negative consequences. In 1917, the term is attested as a printing term for a guideline on the bed of a printing press beyond which text will not print. Three years later, the term is found in print in the sense of "time limit" in the closely connected publishing industry, indicating the time after which material would not make it into a newspaper or periodical.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛdˌlaɪn/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdlaɪn

Noun

deadline (plural deadlines)

1. A time limit in the form of a date on or before which something must be completed.

   Synonym: closing date

   I must make this deadline or my boss will kill me!

   • 2019 October, Rhodri Clark, “TfW seeks PRM derogation for Class 37 sets”, in Modern Railways, page 87:

     TfW's [Transport for Wales] plans to meet the PRM [Persons with Reduced Mobility] deadline and withdraw all Pacers by 1 January have been made more difficult by delays to introduction of Class 769 and 230 units.

2. (archaic) A guideline marked on a plate for a printing press.
3. (archaic) A line that does not move. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. (archaic) A boundary around a prison, prisoners crossing which would be shot.

Derived terms

• deadline fighter
• deadliner
• postdeadline
• subdeadline

Descendants

• → Danish: deadline
• → Dutch: deadline
• → Finnish: deadline
• → German: Deadline
• → Italian: deadline
• → Polish: deadline
• → Swedish: deadline

Translations

date on or before which something must be completed

• Albanian: afat (sq) m
• Arabic: أَجَل m (ʔajal), مُهْلَة f (muhla)

  Hijazi Arabic: آخر موعد m (ʔāḵir mawʕid)

• Armenian: վերջնաժամկետ (hy) (verǰnažamket)
• Bulgarian: краен срок (kraen srok)
• Catalan: termini (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 截止日期 (jiézhǐ rìqī (mainland China) or jiézhǐ rìqí (Taiwan)), 限期 (zh) (xiànqī (mainland China) or xiànqí (Taiwan)), 期限 (zh) (qíxiàn), 死線 / 死线 (zh) (sǐxiàn)

• Czech: uzávěrka f, termín (cs) m
• Danish: deadline (da) c, afleveringsfrist c, frist (da) c
• Dutch: termijn (nl) m, deadline (nl) m
• Esperanto: limdato
• Estonian: tähtaeg
• Finnish: takaraja (fi), määräaika (fi), deadline (fi)
• French: date butoir (fr) f, date limite (fr) f, échéance (fr) f
• Georgian: ბოლო ვადა (bolo vada), ზღვრული ვადა (zɣvruli vada), უკიდურესი ვადა (uḳiduresi vada), საბოლოო ვადა (saboloo vada), დედლაინი (dedlaini) (slang)
• German: Stichtag (de) m, Frist (de) f, Termin (de) m; (university and business also) Deadline (de) f
• Greek: προθεσμία (el) f (prothesmía)
• Haitian Creole: dat limit
• Hungarian: határidő (hu)
• Indonesian: tenggat waktu, batas waktu
• Irish: spriocdháta m (date), sprioc-am m (time)
• Italian: scadenza (it) f, termine (it), limite (it)
• Japanese: 期限 (ja) (きげん, kigen), 締め切り (ja) (しめきり, shimekiri), デッドライン (deddorain)
• Khmer: ផុត​កំណត់ (phot-kɑmnɑt)
• Korean: 마감 (ko) (magam), 데드라인 (dedeurain)
• Latin: terminus ante quem m
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tidsfrist m

  Nynorsk: tidsfrist m

• Polish: deadline (pl) m
• Portuguese: prazo final m
• Romanian: timp limită
• Russian: кра́йний срок m (krájnij srok), после́дний срок m (poslédnij srok), (jargon) дедла́йн (ru) m (dɛdlájn), срок (ru) m (srok)
• Scottish Gaelic: ceann-ama m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: рок m, термин m

  Roman: rok (sh) m, termin (sh) m

• Slovene: rok (sl) m
• Spanish: fecha límite f, requisito (es) m, compromiso (es) m, plazo [máximo] m, dedlain m (United States), límite temporal / del plazo m
• Swedish: tidsfrist (sv) c, deadline (sv) c
• Tagalog: palugit
• Thai: เส้นตาย (th) (sên-dtaai)
• Turkish: mühlet (tr), deadline (tr), termin (tr)
• Ukrainian: строк (uk) m (strok), те́рмін (uk) m (términ)
• Vietnamese: hạn chót, hạn (vi), thời hạn (vi)
• Walloon: dierin djoû m
• Welsh: dyddiad cau m

Verb

deadline (third-person singular simple present deadlines, present participle deadlining, simple past and past participle deadlined)

1. (military) To render an item non-mission-capable; to ground an aircraft, etc.

Further reading

• “The Bloody History of 'Deadline'”

Anagrams

• denailed

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English deadline.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛt.lɑi̯n/, /ˈdɛd.lɑi̯n/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dead‧line

Noun

deadline m (plural deadlines, diminutive deadlinetje n)

1. deadline

   Synonym: termijn

Finnish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English deadline.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdedlɑi̯n/, [ˈde̞dlɑ̝i̯n]
• Rhymes: -edlɑin

Noun

deadline (colloquial)

1. deadline

Declension

The declension of this word is problematic. Joukahainen recommends the nalle-type declension, presumably based on the (English) spelling of the nominative of the word:

Inflection of deadline (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative		deadline	deadlinet
genitive		deadlinen	deadlinejen
partitive		deadlinea	deadlineja
illative		deadlineen	deadlineihin
		singular	plural
nominative		deadline	deadlinet
accusative	nom.	deadline	deadlinet
	gen.	deadlinen
genitive		deadlinen	deadlinejen deadlinein rare
partitive		deadlinea	deadlineja
inessive		deadlinessa	deadlineissa
elative		deadlinesta	deadlineista
illative		deadlineen	deadlineihin
adessive		deadlinella	deadlineilla
ablative		deadlinelta	deadlineilta
allative		deadlinelle	deadlineille
essive		deadlinena	deadlineina
translative		deadlineksi	deadlineiksi
abessive		deadlinetta	deadlineitta
instructive		—	deadlinein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of deadline (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative deadlineni deadlineni accusative nom. deadlineni deadlineni gen. deadlineni genitive deadlineni deadlinejeni deadlineini rare partitive deadlineani deadlinejani inessive deadlinessani deadlineissani elative deadlinestani deadlineistani illative deadlineeni deadlineihini adessive deadlinellani deadlineillani ablative deadlineltani deadlineiltani allative deadlinelleni deadlineilleni essive deadlinenani deadlineinani translative deadlinekseni deadlineikseni abessive deadlinettani deadlineittani instructive — — comitative — deadlineineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative deadlinesi deadlinesi accusative nom. deadlinesi deadlinesi gen. deadlinesi genitive deadlinesi deadlinejesi deadlineisi rare partitive deadlineasi deadlinejasi inessive deadlinessasi deadlineissasi elative deadlinestasi deadlineistasi illative deadlineesi deadlineihisi adessive deadlinellasi deadlineillasi ablative deadlineltasi deadlineiltasi allative deadlinellesi deadlineillesi essive deadlinenasi deadlineinasi translative deadlineksesi deadlineiksesi abessive deadlinettasi deadlineittasi instructive — — comitative — deadlineinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative deadlinemme deadlinemme accusative nom. deadlinemme deadlinemme gen. deadlinemme genitive deadlinemme deadlinejemme deadlineimme rare partitive deadlineamme deadlinejamme inessive deadlinessamme deadlineissamme elative deadlinestamme deadlineistamme illative deadlineemme deadlineihimme adessive deadlinellamme deadlineillamme ablative deadlineltamme deadlineiltamme allative deadlinellemme deadlineillemme essive deadlinenamme deadlineinamme translative deadlineksemme deadlineiksemme abessive deadlinettamme deadlineittamme instructive — — comitative — deadlineinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative deadlinenne deadlinenne accusative nom. deadlinenne deadlinenne gen. deadlinenne genitive deadlinenne deadlinejenne deadlineinne rare partitive deadlineanne deadlinejanne inessive deadlinessanne deadlineissanne elative deadlinestanne deadlineistanne illative deadlineenne deadlineihinne adessive deadlinellanne deadlineillanne ablative deadlineltanne deadlineiltanne allative deadlinellenne deadlineillenne essive deadlinenanne deadlineinanne translative deadlineksenne deadlineiksenne abessive deadlinettanne deadlineittanne instructive — — comitative — deadlineinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative deadlinensa deadlinensa accusative nom. deadlinensa deadlinensa gen. deadlinensa genitive deadlinensa deadlinejensa deadlineinsa rare partitive deadlineaan deadlineansa deadlinejaan deadlinejansa inessive deadlinessaan deadlinessansa deadlineissaan deadlineissansa elative deadlinestaan deadlinestansa deadlineistaan deadlineistansa illative deadlineensa deadlineihinsa adessive deadlinellaan deadlinellansa deadlineillaan deadlineillansa ablative deadlineltaan deadlineltansa deadlineiltaan deadlineiltansa allative deadlinelleen deadlinellensa deadlineilleen deadlineillensa essive deadlinenaan deadlinenansa deadlineinaan deadlineinansa translative deadlinekseen deadlineksensa deadlineikseen deadlineiksensa abessive deadlinettaan deadlinettansa deadlineittaan deadlineittansa instructive — — comitative — deadlineineen deadlineinensa

On the other hand, the nalle-type declension does not fit the pronunciation, which in fact follows the risti-type declension (except in the nominative: /dedlain/), in other words, /dedlainin/, /dedlainia/, etc. in the genitive, partitive, etc. It's probably advisable to avoid using this word in writing and to use Finnish synonyms instead.

Synonyms

• kalmanviiva (colloquial)
• kuolemanlinja (colloquial)
• kuolonlinja (colloquial)
• määräaika
• takaraja

Derived terms

• dedis

Further reading

• “deadline”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English deadline.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛ.dlajn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdlajn
• Syllabification: dead‧line

Noun

deadline m inan

1. (informal) deadline (date on or before which something must be completed)

Declension

Declension of deadline

	singular	plural
nominative	deadline	deadline'y
genitive	deadline'u	deadline'ów
dative	deadline'owi	deadline'om
accusative	deadline	deadline'y
instrumental	deadline'em	deadline'ami
locative	deadlinie	deadline'ach
vocative	deadlinie	deadline'y

Further reading

• deadline in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• deadline in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• deadline at Obserwatorium językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Swedish

Noun

deadline c

1. a deadline

Declension

Declension of deadline

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	deadline	deadlines
	definite	deadlinen	deadlinens
plural	indefinite	deadliner	deadliners
	definite	deadlinerna	deadlinernas

See also

• frist
• tidsfrist

References

• deadline in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• deadline in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)