Standard Lemma guide

finality

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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/faɪˈnælɪti/
/faɪˈnæləti/
archaic: /fɪ-/
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ælɪti
CMU ARPABET: F AY0 N AE1 L AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being final; the condition from which no further changes occur.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

The finality of my father's death suddenly hit me: there would be no more bedtime stories, no more games of catch in the back yard.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

noun

Meaning 2

the quality of being final or definitely settled

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

the finality of death

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: conclusiveness, decisiveness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: determinateness, definiteness

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French finalité. equivalent to final + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Catalan: finalitat — state of being final
Czech: konečnost — state of being final
Czech: definitivnost — state of being final
Finnish: lopullisuus — state of being final
Finnish: lainvoimaisuus — state of being final
French: finalité — state of being final
German: Finalität — state of being final
Ido: finaleso — state of being final
Latin: fīnālitās — state of being final

Word forms

Inflections and variants

finalities — plural

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: counter-finality, counterfinality, equifinality, in finality, multifinality

Related: conclusive, inconclusive

Semantic map

Other relationships

Hypernyms: determinateness, definiteness

Sources

Where this information comes from

Wiktionary data was expanded into structured fields by Wiktextract. Matching Princeton WordNet definitions and semantic relationships, plus CMUdict ARPABET pronunciations, are merged into this same canonical word page.

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

finality in complete knowledge articles