終つい

つ

い

Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

Used as a noun or adjectival noun to refer to the end or final stage of something. Often appears in formal or literary contexts.

彼かれは人じん生せいの終ついを静しずかに迎むかえた。
He quietly met the end of his life.
終ついの住処すみかを探さがす。
Search for a final resting place.

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

end of life; death

Specifically refers to the end of one's life; a more poetic or euphemistic term for death.

終ついを悟さとる。
Realize one's own end is near.

adverb

never; not at all

Adverbial use, almost exclusively in the negative construction 終ぞ (ついぞ) meaning 'never' or 'not at all'. Archaic and rarely used in modern speech.

Usage patterns

終ついを迎むかえるto meet one's end (death)
彼かれは静しずかに終ついを迎むかえた。
He met his end peacefully.
終ついを全まっとうするto live out one's life to the very end
彼かの女じょは九きゅう十じゅっ歳さいでその生しょう涯がいの終ついを全まっとうした。
She lived her life to the fullest and reached its end at ninety.

Expressions

終ついの棲すみ家かone's final abode; last home

Kanji

終end, finish
竟end, finally
遂consummate, accomplish, attain

Related words

終おわりN5sense 1
終わり is the common, everyday word for 'end', while 終 is a formal, literary term often used in set phrases.
死しN1sense 2
死 is the plain, direct word for 'death', whereas 終 is a softer, poetic way to refer to the end of life.
終しゅう焉えん sense 1
終焉 is a formal, often dramatic word for the 'end' or 'demise' of something, similar in tone to 終 but more commonly used in modern writing.
最さい期ごN1sense 2
最期 specifically means one's final moment or manner of dying, while 終 more broadly refers to the end of life itself.
完かん
終 also marks the end of a story or film, but 完 carries a stronger sense of completion or perfection rather than just stopping.

Opposites

始はじめN5sense 1
始め means 'beginning', the direct opposite of 終 meaning 'end' or 'final stage'.

Word family

ついぞ
never; not at all

Written forms

終つい
Standard kanji spelling for the noun and adjectival senses.
竟つい
Rare variant kanji; not commonly used in modern Japanese.
遂つい
Rare variant kanji; not commonly used in modern Japanese.

Etymology

The kanji 終 means 'end' or 'finish'. The reading つい is a native Japanese word (kun'yomi) with the same meaning. The adverbial use ついぞ is a combination of つい and the emphatic particle ぞ.