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.
彼は人生の終を静かに迎えた。
He quietly met the end of his life.
終の住処を探す。
Search for a final resting place.
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.
See also: ついぞ
彼は終ぞ笑顔を見せなかった。
He never showed a smile.
He met his end peacefully.
彼女は九十歳でその生涯の終を全うした。
She lived her life to the fullest and reached its end at ninety.
終わり is the common, everyday word for 'end', while 終 is a formal, literary term often used in set phrases.
死 is the plain, direct word for 'death', whereas 終 is a softer, poetic way to refer to the end of life.
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.
最期 specifically means one's final moment or manner of dying, while 終 more broadly refers to the end of life itself.
終 also marks the end of a story or film, but 完 carries a stronger sense of completion or perfection rather than just stopping.
never; not at all
Standard kanji spelling for the noun and adjectival senses.
Rare variant kanji; not commonly used in modern Japanese.
Rare variant kanji; not commonly used in modern Japanese.
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.