end

The terminal point of something in space or time.

Noun

The terminal point of something in space or time.
- they followed him... into a sort of a central hall; out of which they could dimly see other long tunnel-like passages branching, passages mysterious and without apparent end. - 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in...
- I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a...
- An epidemic of the disease started in Lü-shun at the end of 1927 and extended to April 1928, involving 271 cases with 14 deaths (Migai, 1928). - 1946, Tsai-yu Hsiao, Epidemiology of the Diseases of Naval Importance in...
The cessation of an effort, activity, state, or motion.
- Is there no end to this madness?
- The new electronic switching system means expanded service and an end to irritances such as cross-talk, line-hum, and being cut off in mid-conversation. - 1986, The Army Communicator, volume 11, number 2, page 46:
Death.
- He met a terrible end in the jungle.
- I hope the end comes quickly.
- Confound your hidden falsehood, and award / Either of you to be the other's end. - c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...
The most extreme point of an object, especially one that is longer than it is wide.
- Hold the string at both ends.
- My father always sat at the end of the table nearest the kitchen.
- All the ends of the woꝛld ſhall remember, and turne vnto the Lord: and all the kinreds of the nations ſhall woꝛſhip befoꝛe thee. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC,...
Result.
- O that a man might know / The end of this day's business ere it come! - 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […]...
- The end was that he was thought an archfool. - 1876, Great Britain. Public Record Office, John Sherren Brewer, Robert Henry Brodie, James Gairdner, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII...
A purpose, goal, or aim.
- For what end should I toil?
- The end of our club is to advance conversation and friendship.
- But, losing her, the End of Living lose. - 1675, John Dryden, chapter III, in Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC:
Synonyms: purpose
One of the two parts of the ground used as a descriptive name for half of the ground.
- The Pavillion End
The position at the end of either the offensive or defensive line, a tight end, a split end, a defensive end.
- Her husband, among various physical accomplishments, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven […]. - 1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles...
A period of play in which each team throws eight rocks, two per player, in alternating fashion.
An ideal point of a graph or other complex. See End (graph theory)
That which is left; a remnant; a fragment; a scrap.
- odds and ends
- I clothe my naked villainy / With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ, / And seem a saint, when most I play the devil. - c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr....
A single warp thread.
- Wind a warp of 459 ends 3¾ yd long, following the warp color order in Figure 1. - 2026, Shelby Moravec, “Flight of the Dragonflies Scarf”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 28:

Origin

From Middle English ende, from Old English ende, from Proto-West Germanic *andī, from Proto-Germanic *andijaz (“end”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂entíos (“forehead; front”), from *h₂ent- (“face; forehead; front”), from *h₂en- (“on, onto”). Cognates Cognate with Yola een, eene (“end”), Saterland Frisian Eend, Eende (“end”), West Frisian ein (“end”), Alemannic German End, Endi (“end”), Central Franconian Eng, Enk (“end”), Cimbrian énte (“end”), Dutch eind, einde, end (“end”), German Ende (“end”), Luxembourgish Enn (“end”), Vilamovian end, ent (“end”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk ende (“end”), Faroese endi (“end”), Icelandic endi, endir (“end”), Swedish ända, ände (“end”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐍃 (andeis, “end”); also Irish éadan (“end; front”), Manx eddin (“face; front”), Scottish Gaelic aodann (“face; hillside”), Latin antiae (“forelock”), Ancient Greek ἀντίος (antíos,...

Verb

To come to an end.
- Is this movie never going to end?
- The lesson will end when the bell rings.
To conclude; to bring something to an end.
- The orchestra ended with a performance of Dvořák.
To finish, terminate.
- The referee blew the whistle to end the game.
- And on the seventh day God ended his worke[…] - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 2:2:
- If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife - c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...