Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “accomplish” come from?

Accomplish comes from Middle English accomplisshen, from Old French acompliss-, the stem of acomplir, which combines the prefix a- (from Latin ad-) with Old French complir, ultimately tracing to Latin ad- and con-.

accomplish (English): To finish successfully; To complete, as time or...

Definitions

  1. To finish successfully; To complete, as time or...

Ancestry of “accomplish”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishaccomplisshen—
2Old Frenchacomplirto come to an end
3Vulgar Latin*(ac)complīre—
4Latincompleō—
5Latincōn-—
6Latincumwith, along with; at; -fold
7Old LatincomAlternative form of cum
8Proto-Italickomwith, along, at
9Proto-Indo-Europeanḱómbeside, near, by, with
10Proto-Indo-EuropeanḱeDeictic particle, here; Post-positional...
11Middle Englishkyt—
12Germankitt—
13Old High Germankuti—
14Proto-West Germanickwidugum, resin
15Proto-Germanickweduzresin
16Proto-Indo-Europeangʷet-resin, gum; to say, speak
17Proto-Indo-Europeangū-to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...

Words derived from “accomplish”

  • accomplished
  • accomplishment
  • unaccomplished
  • accomplishable
  • accomplisher
  • accomplisht
  • unaccomplishable
  • nonaccomplishment
  • unaccomplishment
  • unaccomplisht
  • overaccomplishment
  • underaccomplished
  • accomplition
  • unaccomplishedness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gū- →