Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The condition or fact of being final.
- noun A final, conclusive, or decisive act or utterance.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The quality or state of being final; the state of being settled or finally arranged; completion; conclusion.
- noun In philosophy, the doctrine that nothing exists or was made except for a determinate end; the doctrine of final causes.
- noun That which is final or last; a final act or result; an absolute conclusion or determination: as, to reach a finality in a negotiation; this offer is a finality.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The state of being final, finished, or complete; a final or conclusive arrangement; a settlement.
- noun The relation of end or purpose to its means.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The state of "being
final "; the condition from which no furtherchanges occur
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the quality of being final or definitely settled
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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No doubt there will be many more changes in the future, for finality is not in the language of politics.
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The meaning itself of the word finality has undergone singular changes since Aristotle and the thirteenth century.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 10: Mass Music-Newman 1840-1916 1913
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Peel no more meant to convey any idea of this kind than did Lord John Russell, when he used the word finality in connection with the Reform Act, mean to convey the idea that, according to his conviction, Parliament was never again to be invited to extend the electoral franchise or to modify the conditions under which the votes of the electors were to be given.
A History of the Four Georges and of William IV, Volume IV (of 4) Justin McCarthy 1898
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These are areas in which such vocabularies truly are contingent, and unpacking our presuppositions about their finality is a useful practice.
Richard Rorty Sean 2007
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It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient.
Is it a matter of opinon whether this is a matter of opinion? Mike L 2007
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It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient.
Archive 2007-10-01 Mike L 2007
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Others have broken entirely with selection and the principle of utility and extend the idea of finality to the general capacity of organisms to persist.
At the Deathbed of Darwinism A Series of Papers Eberhard Dennert
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This third relation may be call finality; [Footnote: The explanation of this is obscure; there is no unanimity among the specialists in musical theory.] it belongs among relations we have called evolutionary.
The Principles of Aesthetics Dewitt H. Parker
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Christianity has taken through the centuries have grown out of enduring experiences and needs never to be outgrown, and that their finality is the finality of the deep things of the soul itself.
Modern Religious Cults and Movements Gaius Glenn Atkins 1912
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Such is the notion of finality which has long been classic.
Evolution créatrice. English Henri Bergson 1900
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