Etymograph

English

completion

Completion comes from Latin completio ‘filling (up)’, from compleō ‘to fill up, fill full, fill out’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-1‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēō1‘to fill’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpleō1‘Combining form used to form prefixed verbs with the approximate meaning "to fill"’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompleō1‘to fill up, fill full, fill out’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompletio1‘filling (up)’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1897completion1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English completion
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Mr. Cooke had had a sloop yacht built at…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-Wiktionary, English completion‘to fill’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plēōWiktionary, English completion‘to fill’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpleōWiktionary, English completion‘Combining form used to form prefixed verbs with the approximate meaning "to fill"’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompleōWiktionary, English completion‘to fill up, fill full, fill out’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompletioWiktionary, English completion‘filling (up)’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1897completionWiktionary, English completion. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Mr. Cooke had had a sloop yacht built at…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’

public, full, plus, fill, plenty, poll, plain, popularity, folk, plural, ample, amplitude, amplify, puri, plethora, plenary, replenish, volk, plenum, plebs, plebeian, fulsome, 74 more

through Proto-Italic *plēō ‘to fill’

people, popular, publication, publican, 14 more

through Latin pleō ‘Combining form used to form prefixed verbs…’

supply, implement, supplement, manipulation, replete, depletion, deplete, 10 more

through Latin compleō ‘to fill up, fill full, fill out’

accomplish, complement, 2 more

Today it means

noun The act or state of being or making something complete; conclusion, accomplishment.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “completion”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- / completion

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