Etimology
From Middle English final, fynal, fynall, from Old French final, from Latin fīnālis (“of or relating to the end or to boundaries”), from fīnis (“end”); see fine. Replaced native English endly (“final”).
noun
final (plural finals)
(US, Canada) A final examination; a test or examination given at the end of a term or class; the test that concludes a class.
(Oxbridge slang) A final examination taken at the end of the final year of an undergraduate course, which contributes towards a student's degree classification.
(sports) The last round, game or match in a contest, after which the winner is determined.
(phonology) The final part of a syllable, the combination of medial and rime in phonetics and phonology.
(music) The tonic or keynote of a Gregorian mode, and hence the final note of any conventional melody played in that mode.
adjective
final (comparative more final, superlative most final)
Last; ultimate.
Conclusive; decisive.
Respecting an end or object to be gained; respecting the purpose or ultimate end in view.
(grammar) Expressing purpose; as in the term final clause.
(linguistics) Word-final; occurring at the end of a word.
Examples
final solution; the final day of a school term
Yet despair not of his final pardon.
a final judgment; the battle of Waterloo brought the contest to a final issue
Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
Related words
synonyms
(last, ultimate): dernier (dated), endly, terminal
antonyms
initial
early
first