First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
conclude
verb con·clude \kən-ˈklüd\
: to stop or finish : to come to an end : to end in a particular way or with a particular action
: to cause (something) to stop or finish : to end (something) in a particular way or with a particular action
: to form or state (an opinion) : to decide (something) after a period of thought or research
con·clud·edcon·clud·ing
Full Definition of CONCLUDE
transitive verb
1
obsolete : to shut up : enclose
2
: to bring to an end especially in a particular way or with a particular action <conclude a meeting with a prayer>
3
4
: to bring about as a result : complete
intransitive verb
1
: end
2
a : to form a final judgment b : to reach a decision or agreement
— con·clud·er noun
See conclude defined for English-language learners
See conclude defined for kids
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Origin of CONCLUDE
Middle English, from Latin concludere to shut up, end, infer, from com- + claudere to shut — more at close
Related to CONCLUDE
Synonym Discussion of CONCLUDE
close, end, conclude, finish, complete, terminate mean to bring or come to a stopping point or limit. close usually implies that something has been in some way open as well as unfinished <close a debate>. end conveys a strong sense of finality <ended his life>. conclude may imply a formal closing (as of a meeting) <the service concluded with a blessing>. finish may stress completion of a final step in a process <after it is painted, the house will be finished>. complete implies the removal of all deficiencies or a successful finishing of what has been undertaken <the resolving of this last issue completes the agreement>. terminate implies the setting of a limit in time or space <your employment terminates after three months>.
infer, deduce, conclude, judge, gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion. infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise <from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other>. deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization <denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality>. conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning <concluded that only the accused could be guilty>. judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based <judge people by their actions>. gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications <gathered their desire to be alone without a word>.
Sir Thomas More is the first writer known to have used both infer and imply in their approved senses (1528). He is also the first to have used infer in a sense close in meaning to imply (1533). Both of these uses of infer coexisted without comment until some time around the end of World War I. Since then, senses 3 and 4 of infer have been frequently condemned as an undesirable blurring of a useful distinction. The actual blurring has been done by the commentators. Sense 3, descended from More's use of 1533, does not occur with a personal subject. When objections arose, they were to a use with a personal subject (now sense 4). Since dictionaries did not recognize this use specifically, the objectors assumed that sense 3 was the one they found illogical, even though it had been in respectable use for four centuries. The actual usage condemned was a spoken one never used in logical discourse. At present sense 4 is found in print chiefly in letters to the editor and other informal prose, not in serious intellectual writing. The controversy over sense 4 has apparently reduced the frequency of use of sense 3.
infer, deduce, conclude, judge, gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion. infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise <from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other>. deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization <denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality>. conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning <concluded that only the accused could be guilty>. judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based <judge people by their actions>. gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications <gathered their desire to be alone without a word>.
Sir Thomas More is the first writer known to have used both infer and imply in their approved senses (1528). He is also the first to have used infer in a sense close in meaning to imply (1533). Both of these uses of infer coexisted without comment until some time around the end of World War I. Since then, senses 3 and 4 of infer have been frequently condemned as an undesirable blurring of a useful distinction. The actual blurring has been done by the commentators. Sense 3, descended from More's use of 1533, does not occur with a personal subject. When objections arose, they were to a use with a personal subject (now sense 4). Since dictionaries did not recognize this use specifically, the objectors assumed that sense 3 was the one they found illogical, even though it had been in respectable use for four centuries. The actual usage condemned was a spoken one never used in logical discourse. At present sense 4 is found in print chiefly in letters to the editor and other informal prose, not in serious intellectual writing. The controversy over sense 4 has apparently reduced the frequency of use of sense 3.
CONCLUDED Defined for Kids
conclude
verb con·clude \kən-ˈklüd\
con·clud·edcon·clud·ing
Definition of CONCLUDE for Kids
1
: to bring or come to an end : finish <conclude a speech>
2
: to decide after a period of thought or research <I conclude that I was wrong.>
3
: to bring about as a result <They would like to conclude an agreement on working together.>
Word Root of CONCLUDE
The Latin word claudere, meaning “to close” or “to shut,” gives us the root clud. To exclude is to shut another out of a group. To include is to shut someone into a group. To conclude, or bring something, such as a speech, to an end, is to close it.
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