achieve

achieve
achieve (v.) early 14c., from O.Fr. achever (12c.) "to finish, accomplish, complete," from phrase à chef (venir) "at an end, finished," or V.L. *accapare, from L.L. ad caput (venire); both the French and Late Latin phrases meaning lit. "to come to a head," from stem of L. caput "head" (see HEAD (Cf. head)). Related: Achieved; achieving.
The Lat. caput, towards the end of the Empire, and in Merov[ingian] times, took the sense of an end, whence the phrase ad caput venire, in the sense of to come to an end .... Venire ad caput naturally produced the Fr. phrase venir à chef = venir à bout. ... From this chief, O.Fr. form of chef (q.v.) in sense of term, end, comes the Fr. compd. achever = venir à chef, to end, finish. [Auguste Brachet, "An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," transl. G.W. Kitchin, Oxford, 1878]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • achieve — UK US /əˈtʃiːv/ verb [T] ► to successfully finish or do something you wanted to do, especially after a lot of effort: attempt/strive/seek to achieve sth »Salespersons strived to achieve maximum sales. achieve an objective/goal/target »The… …   Financial and business terms

  • Achieve — A*chieve , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Achieved}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Achieving}.] [OE. acheven, OF. achever, achiever, F. achever, to finish; [ a] (L. ad) + OF. chief, F. chef, end, head, fr. L. caput head. See {Chief}.] 1. To carry on to a final close;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • achieve — achieve; achieve·ment; …   English syllables

  • achieve — [ə chēv′] vt. achieved, achieving [ME acheven < OFr achever, to finish < a , to + chief, head: see CHIEF] 1. to do; succeed in doing; accomplish 2. to get or reach by exertion; attain; gain [to achieve one s goals] vi. to bring about a… …   English World dictionary

  • achieve — I (acquire) verb acquire, arrive, attain, bring about, build, carry, close, complete, conclude, construct, consummate, decide, determine, discharge, earn, evoke, function, gain, get, implement, obtain, operate, originate, prevail, procure, reach …   Law dictionary

  • achieve — 1 accomplish, effect, *perform, fulfill, execute, discharge Analogous words: complete, finish, conclude (see CLOSE): surmount, overcome, *conquer Antonyms: fail (to do something), fail (in) Contrasted words: *begin, commence, start …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • achieve — [v] bring to successful conclusion; reach a goal accomplish, acquire, actualize, attain, bring about, bring off*, bring to pass, cap, carry out, carry through, close, complete, conclude, consummate, deliver, discharge, dispatch, do, earn, earn… …   New thesaurus

  • achieve — ► VERB ▪ bring about or accomplish by effort, skill, or courage. DERIVATIVES achievable adjective achiever noun. ORIGIN Old French achever come or bring to a head , from a chief to a head …   English terms dictionary

  • achieve */*/*/ — UK [əˈtʃiːv] / US [əˈtʃɪv] verb Word forms achieve : present tense I/you/we/they achieve he/she/it achieves present participle achieving past tense achieved past participle achieved Metaphor: Something you achieve is like a building, and the… …   English dictionary

  • achieve — 01. You will never [achieve] your goals if you don t believe in yourself. 02. If you want to [achieve] real progress in your speaking skills, you need to speak English as often as possible while you are here. 03. When thinking about your goals… …   Grammatical examples in English

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