Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “final” come from?

final (Middle English) comes from Old French final, from Latin fīnālis, from Latin -ālis, from Proto-Italic -ālis.

Ancestry of “final”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchfinalfinal, definitive, last
2Latinfīnālis—
3Latin-ālis—
4Proto-Italic-ālis—

Words derived from “final”

  • final
  • finalize
  • finalist
  • finalise
  • semifinal
  • finalizer
  • finalism
  • nonfinal
  • quarterfinal
  • finalizable
  • wordfinal
  • postfinal
  • prefinal
  • equifinal
  • cofinal
  • unfinal
  • superfinal
  • cofinality
  • prefinalist
  • nonfinalist
  • cofinally
  • quarter-finalist
  • finaliser
  • octavofinal
Every word from Proto-Italic -ālis →