English → Latin
“finish” in Latin
fīniōto finish, terminate; to set, appoint; to limit, boundterminōto mark off (by boundaries), set bounds to; bound, limit; to define, fix, determine, circumscribe; to close, finish, endcōnsummōto sum up; to make or amount to (a number); to accomplish, complete, finish, perfect, consummateabsolvōto release, discharge; to loosen from, make loose, detach, untie; to pay offperficiōto finish, complete; to perfect; to carry out, execute, performcōnficiōto prepare, accomplish, complete, execute; settle, close a bargain; traverse; to produce, cause, bring about, effect, seperdūcōto lead, conduct, convey, carry, guide or bring through or to a place; deliver; to spread over, bedaub, coat, besmear; tefficiōto make out or work out; effect, execute, complete, accomplish, make, form, compose; to cause to occur, to bring about, exsequorto follow after thoroughly, steadfastly accompany, go after, seek after, pursue persistently; to follow or accompany to peragōto pierce, transfix; to traverse, pass through; to harass, disturb, annoy
The English word finish itself goes back to Latin fīnis, through fīniō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
finish
TRANS., finire: terminare (denote the mere ending without reference to how far the object of the action has been attained; finire, opposed to incipere; terminare, opposed to continuare): consummare: absolvere: perficere (denote the completing a work, the bringing it to a proper and satisfactory end; consummare, as the most general term, opposed to leaving it half finished; absolvere, opposed to inchoare, denotes a duty fulfilled, a difficult task ended, so that the person is now free; perficere, opposed to conari, refers to an object attained; to a task of one’s own choice, which may now be considered perfectly accomplished, etc.): conficere (to finish anything made up of several actions; e.g., bellum): finem alicui rei afferre: aliquid ad finem adducere or perducere (to bring anything to a conclusion): aliquid transigere (to conclude or settle some business): aliquid profligare (to despatch it, with a single stroke as it were): efficere (to bring about, to effect, if the final object has been obtained; libri ad Varronem sunt effecti, Cic.): exsequi (to execute according to prescription, order; e.g., officium, alicujus mandata): peragere (to carry through, if the business required constant activity to the end; e.g., fabulam, consulatum): potrare (to present something as actually effected, completed, when the author and effect are clearly seen; e.g., caedem, bellum, incepta): perpetrare (to bring about completely, with reference to publicity; non creditur, nisi perpetratum, facinus, Liv.). ☞ It is but seldom that Cic. and Caes. use finire aliquid, except in the sense of putting a limit to anything, defining anything, etc.: to finish a letter, epistolam concludes; a war, bellum conficere, perficere or comprimere, but also finire. Again, finire cannot well stand intransitively, or rather absolutely, without object expressed: to give anything the finishing stroke, aliquid absolvere or perficere; perpolire atque conficere: extremam or summam manum imponere alicui rei (Verg., Aen., 7, 537; Sen., Ep., 12, 4; Quint., prooem., 4). [Vid: To END, COMPLETE.]
Finished, absolutus: perfectus (absolutely, is extensive, referring to the completeness of the work; perfectus, intensive, referring to its excellence): Vid: End, INTRANS.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for finish?
- The usual Latin words for “finish” are fīniō, terminō, cōnsummō; also absolvō, perficiō, cōnficiō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.