Etymograph

English

conclude

Conclude comes from Latin conclūdō ‘to shut up, close, end’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-1‘to close something’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudō1‘to close’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudō1‘to shut up, close, lock’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconclūdō2as conclūdere‘to shut up, close, end’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500concluden2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1591conclude2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin concludo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English conclude
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “if we conclude a peace”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-Wiktionary, Latin concludo‘to close something’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudōWiktionary, Latin concludo‘to close’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudōWiktionary, Latin concludo‘to shut up, close, lock’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconclūdōWiktionary, English concludeas conclūdere‘to shut up, close, end’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500concludenWiktionary, English conclude
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1591concludeWiktionary, English conclude. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “if we conclude a peace”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘to close something’

include, cataract, subclavian, 28 more

through Proto-Italic *klaudō ‘to close’

closet, disclose, enclose, inclusiveness, 25 more

through Latin claudō ‘to shut up, close, lock’

close, exclusive, closure, clause, inclusive, inclusion, exclude, cloister, recluse, claustrophobia, sluice, preclude, occlusion, cloture, 31 more

Today it means

verb To end; to come to an end.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “conclude”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin concludo. 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 *kleh₂w- / conclude

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