末すえ

adverb, noun

after; at the end of; finally after

Used in patterns such as 〜の末 and 〜した末 to mean that something happened after a process, effort, hesitation, discussion, or struggle.

• 長ながい話はなし合あいの末すえ、計けい画かくは中ちゅう止しになった。

  After long discussions, the plan was canceled.

• いろいろ考かんがえた末すえに、彼かれは会かい社しゃを辞やめることにした。

  After thinking it over in many ways, he decided to leave the company.

noun

tip; end; extremity

Refers to the far end or tip of something. In modern everyday Japanese, 先 or 端 is often more ordinary for physical tips; this use of 末 can sound somewhat literary or set-phrase-like.

• 枝えだの末すえに小ちいさな芽めが出でている。

  A small bud is growing at the tip of the branch.

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

youngest child; youngest sibling

Used before の, as in 末の弟 or 末の娘. The compound 末っ子 is the common standalone word for the youngest child.

See also: 末っ子

• 末すえの弟おとうとはまだ高こう校こう生せいだ。

  My youngest brother is still in high school.

noun

descendants; offspring; posterity

Usually appears as 〜の末, meaning a descendant or later member of a family or lineage. It is relatively literary or historical in tone; 末裔 is often used in modern explanatory prose.

• 物もの語がたりでは、彼かれは平へい家けの末すえとして描えがかれる。

  In the story, he is portrayed as a descendant of the Taira clan.

noun

future; future prospects

Often used in evaluative expressions about how someone's or something's future may turn out, such as 末が楽しみだ or 末が案じられる.

• この子こは末すえが楽たのしみだ。

  This child has a promising future.

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

trifle; trivial matter

Limited and idiomatic use for something unimportant, especially in expressions like 末の末. It is not a freely productive everyday noun for 'trifle.'

• 今いまは命いのちが助たすかっただけで十じゅう分ぶんで、金かねのことは末すえの末すえだ。

  For now, it is enough that we survived; money is a mere trifle.

noun

degenerate age; world gone bad

Most visible in fixed expressions such as 世も末だ or 世の末, used when lamenting moral decline or a world that seems hopelessly corrupt.

• こんな詐さ欺ぎが横おう行こうするとは、世よも末すえだ。

  For scams like this to be everywhere, the world really has gone bad.