finish

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English finishen, finisshen, finischen, from Old French finiss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of finir, from Latin fīnīre, present active infinitive of fīniō, from fīnis (“end, limit, border, boundary”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to stick, set up”) or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”).

PronunciationEdit

enPR: fĭn'ĭsh, IPA^(key): /ˈfɪnɪʃ/
Audio (UK) (file)
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪnɪʃ
Homophone: Finnish

NounEdit

finish (plural finishes)

An end; the end of anything.
A protective coating given to wood or metal and other surfaces.
The car's finish was so shiny and new.
The result of any process changing the physical or chemical properties of cloth.
A finishing touch; careful elaboration; polish.
(sports) A shot on goal, especially one that ends in a goal.
- 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC‎^[1]:
  The Italian opted for Bolton's Cahill alongside captain John Terry - and his decision was rewarded with a goal after only 13 minutes. Bulgaria gave a hint of defensive frailties to come when they failed to clear Young's corner, and when Gareth Barry found Cahill in the box he applied the finish past Nikolay Mihaylov.

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

end

Armenian: վերջ (hy) (verǰ), ավարտ (hy) (avart), վախճան (hy) (vaxčan)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܦܵܪܹܩ‎ (pareq), ܚܵܠܹܨ‎ (ḳaleṣ)
Azerbaijani: son (az), axır (az)
Bulgarian: край (bg) m (kraj), фина́л (bg) m (finál)
Catalan: meta (ca) f, fita (ca) f, fi (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 終結／终结 (zh) (zhōngjié)
Czech: konec (cs) m
Danish: slutning c
Dutch: eindstreep (nl) f, finish (nl) m, meet (nl) f
Esperanto: fino (eo)
Finnish: loppu (fi), maali (fi)
French: fin (fr) f
Georgian: დასასრული (dasasruli)
German: Ende (de) n
Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐍃 m (andeis)
Greek: τέλος (el) n (télos)
Hebrew: סִיּוּם‎ m (siyúm)
Hungarian: befejezés (hu), vég (hu)
Indonesian: tamat (id), selesai (id)
Interlingua: fin, termination
Italian: fine (it) f, termine (it) m, traguardo (it) m, arrivo (it) m, finale (it) m
Japanese: 終わり (ja) (おわり, owari)
Korean: 끝 (ko) (kkeut), 마감 (ko) (magam), 종결 (ko) (jonggyeol)
Latin: finis (la) m, terminus (la) m
Latvian: beigas f pl
Malayalam: അവസാനം (ml) (avasānaṃ)
Norwegian: avslutning (no) m or f, slutt m
Polish: koniec (pl) m inan
Portuguese: fim (pt) m, final (pt) m
Romanian: sfârșit (ro), final (ro) n
Russian: коне́ц (ru) m (konéc), фина́л (ru) m (finál), оконча́ние (ru) n (okončánije), фи́ниш (ru) m (fíniš)
Serbo-Croatian: cilj (sh) m
Spanish: meta (es) f, fin (es) m
Swedish: mål (sv) n
Tagalog: tapusin
Tibetan: མཐའ (mtha')
Turkish: bitiş (tr)
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
Volapük: fin (vo), finük
Welsh: diwedd (cy)

protective coating

Danish: finish c
Finnish: pintakäsittely
French: fini (fr) m
German: Lack (de) m
Hebrew: גִּמּוּר‎ m (gimmúr)
Hungarian: bevonat (hu)
Italian: finitura f, rifinitura (it) f
Norwegian: toppstrøk n, finish m
Portuguese: acabamento (pt) m
Romanian: lac (ro) n
Russian: лак (ru) m (lak), отде́лка (ru) f (otdélka) (action or result of finishing)
Spanish: acabado (es) m
Swedish: yta (sv) c, finish (sv) c
Tibetan: བཀྲག་རྩི (bkrag rtsi)

the result of any process changing the physical or chemical properties of cloth

Polish: apretura f

polish

finish line — see finish line

VerbEdit

finish (third-person singular simple present finishes, present participle finishing, simple past and past participle finished)

(transitive) To complete (something).
Be sure to finish your homework before you go to bed!
(transitive) To apply a treatment to (a surface or similar).
The furniture was finished in teak veneer.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
  Mr. Cooke had had a sloop yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed, and which was but just delivered. […] The Maria had a cabin, which was finished in hard wood and yellow plush, and accommodations for keeping things cold.
- 1961 February, “New "Mini-Buffets" from Wolverton”, in Trains Illustrated, page 79:
  Seats are trimmed in a grey and blue moquette and tables are finished with grey Vyanide tops, gilt edging and ebony legs.
(transitive) To change an animal's food supply in the months before it is due for slaughter, with the intention of fattening the animal.
Due to BSE, cows in the United Kingdom must be finished and slaughtered before 30 months of age.
(intransitive) To come to an end.
We had to leave before the concert had finished.
(transitive) To put an end to; to destroy.
These rumours could finish your career.
(intransitive, sex) To reach orgasm.
- 2019 June 14, Macaela Mackenzie; Lindsay Geller, “Why Your Orgasm Is MIA—And Exactly What To Do About It”, in Women's Health‎^[2], archived from the original on 25 January 2021:
  "Understand the anxiety around sex and what beliefs are triggering it," says Van Kirk."Are you worried you aren't good in bed? That you'll come off as selfish? That pleasuring you will take too long? Reframe that anxiety. Your excitement needs to be louder than any anxiety" to finish.

Usage notesEdit

(transitive, to complete): This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (the -ing form). See Appendix:English catenative verbs.

ConjugationEdit

Conjugation of finish

infinitive	(to) finish
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	finish	finished
2nd-person singular	finish, finishest^†	finished, finishedst^†
3rd-person singular	finishes, finisheth^†	finished
plural	finish	finished

subjunctive	finish	finished

imperative	finish	—

participles	finishing	finished