accomplish
English
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for accomplish in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)
Etymology
From Middle English accomplisshen, acomplissen, from Old French acompliss-, extended stem of acomplir (Modern French accomplir),[1] from a- (“to”) (from Latin Latin ad) + complir (or possibly through a Vulgar Latin root *accomplīre, with inchoative *accomplesco), from Vulgar Latin *complīre and *complesco, from Latin complēre (“to fill up, fill out, complete”); see complete.
First attested in the late 14th century.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈkɒm.plɪʃ/, /əˈkʌm.plɪʃ/[2][3][4]
- (General American) IPA(key): /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/
- (Canada) IPA(key): /əˈkɒm.plɪʃ/
- (New Zealand, General Australian) IPA(key): /əˈkɐm.plɪʃ/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: a‧ccom‧plish
Verb
accomplish (third-person singular simple present accomplishes, present participle accomplishing, simple past and past participle accomplished)
- (transitive) To finish successfully.
- (transitive) To complete, as time or distance.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Daniel 9:2:
- That He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
- 1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, “War with France”, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, OCLC 645131689, book I, page 231:
- But the rising ground which lay between him and the French prevented him from seeing the enemy until he had accomplished half a league or more.
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- (transitive) To execute fully; to fulfill; to complete successfully.
- to accomplish a design, an object, a promise
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 22:37:
- This that is written must yet be accomplished in me
- (transitive, archaic) To equip or furnish thoroughly; hence, to complete in acquirements; to render accomplished; to polish.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
- The armorers accomplishing the knights
- 1638, John Wilkins, The Discovery of a World in the Moone
- It [the moon] is fully accomplished for all those ends to which Providence did appoint it.
- 1863, Charles Cowden Clarke, Shakespeare's Characters
- These qualities . . . go to accomplish a perfect woman.
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- (transitive, obsolete) To gain; to obtain.
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:
- And more unlikely / Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns!
-
- (transitive, Philippines) to fill out a form.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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References
- “accomplisshen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2018, retrieved 20 October 2019.
- The Chambers Dictionary, 9th Ed., 2003
- “accomplish”, in Collins English Dictionary.
- “accomplish”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
- accomplish at OneLook Dictionary Search
- accomplish in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- accomplish in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911