Ends

How to spell ends

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce ends

What does ends mean?

1. nounThe final parts, edges, or extremities of one or more things.
2. verbComes to a finish or brings something to a close (third-person singular).

Ends in a sentence

• noun

  She tied the loose ends of the rope together before the climb.

• verb

  The meeting always ends at noon on a Friday.

• noun

  The report tidied up all the remaining loose ends of the project.

• verb

  The film ends with a quiet shot of the empty house.

Where does ends come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends directly from the Old English noun and verb 'ende', which meant the limit, boundary, or farthest point of something, whether in space, time, or fortune. It belongs to the native Germanic core of English and has close cousins in Dutch 'einde' and German 'Ende', all going back to a Proto-Germanic root that carried the sense of the outermost edge. From the very beginning the word served double duty as both a noun for the final part of a thing and a verb meaning to bring or come to a close. The added 's' here is simply the regular English inflection that forms either the plural of the noun (more than one end) or the third-person singular of the verb (he or she ends). Because the spelling is short, native, and entirely regular, it has stayed remarkably stable for well over a thousand years.

How the word is built

• end (Old English ende: limit, boundary)
• -s (plural / third-person singular)