entry
achieve
/əˈtʃiːv/bring something to successful completion
From Latin ad (to) + Latin caput (head).
from Late Latin ad caput (venire) ; both the French and Late Latin phrases meaning literally "to come to a head,"
from Old French achever (12c.) "to finish, accomplish, complete,"
from Old French achever (12c.) "to finish, accomplish, complete,"
from Middle English achieven, acheven
from Middle English achieven, acheven
Word Ancestry
from Late Latin ad caput (venire) ; both the French and Late Latin phrases meaning literally "to come to a head,"
from Old French achever (12c.) "to finish, accomplish, complete,"
from Old French achever (12c.) "to finish, accomplish, complete,"
from Middle English achieven, acheven
from Middle English achieven, acheven
A head turned into a finish line, and that’s the little trick hiding inside achieve. In late Latin, people could say ad caput venire — literally, “to come to a head” — and Old French sharpened that into achever, a tidy verb for finishing something off, as if a task were a loaf being brought all the way to its crust. The same caput family gives us capital, chief, and chieftain, so you can feel the old idea of “the top” or “the main thing” tugging behind the word. English picked it up in the early 14th century, when acheven meant to carry something through to completion, and only later did it pick up the extra glow of triumph: not just finishing, but succeeding after effort. So when you say you achieved something, you’re really saying you got the job all the way to its head — right to the point where it can’t go any farther.
The Story
A head turned into a finish line, and that’s the little trick hiding inside achieve. In late Latin, people could say ad caput venire — literally, “to come to a head” — and Old French sharpened that into achever, a tidy verb for finishing something off, as if a task were a loaf being brought all the way to its crust. The same caput family gives us capital, chief, and chieftain, so you can feel the old idea of “the top” or “the main thing” tugging behind the word. English picked it up in the early 14th century, when acheven meant to carry something through to completion, and only later did it pick up the extra glow of triumph: not just finishing, but succeeding after effort. So when you say you achieved something, you’re really saying you got the job all the way to its head — right to the point where it can’t go any farther.
Kin & Kindred
From 'ad'·to, toward
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'caput'·head; top; chief; end
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary