Completion

How to spell completion

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce completion

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does completion mean?

1. nounThe act of finishing something, or the state of being finished.

Completion in a sentence

• The builders promised completion of the extension by autumn.

• The bonus is paid on completion of the training course.

Where does completion come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb complere, which meant 'to fill up' or 'to finish', formed from the intensive prefix com- and the root plere, meaning 'to fill'. The same plere root gave English a whole family of relatives, including 'complete', 'replete', and even 'plenty', all of which carry the underlying idea of fullness. The past participle completus produced the medieval Latin noun completio, describing the act of finishing or filling out. English took this in through Old French during the late medieval period, settling on the spelling completion to match the verb complete. The -tion ending is the predictable trap here: the sound is 'shun', but the spelling follows the Latin -tio pattern, and the e of complete is kept before the suffix.

How the word is built

• com- (intensive: completely)
• plet (from plere: to fill)
• -ion (noun of action)