achieve

English Online Dictionary. What means achieve‎? What does achieve mean?

English

Alternative forms

• atchieve (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English achieven, acheven, from Anglo-Norman achever, Old French achever, achiever et al., apparently from Late Latin *accappāre, present active infinitive of *accappō, from ad (“to”) + caput (“head”) + -ō (verbal suffix), or alternatively a construction based on Old French chief (“head”). Compare Catalan, Occitan, Portuguese and Spanish acabar, French achever.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈt͡ʃiːv/
• Rhymes: -iːv

Verb

achieve (third-person singular simple present achieves, present participle achieving, simple past and past participle achieved)

1. (intransitive) To succeed in something, now especially in academic performance. [from 14th c.]
2. (transitive) To carry out successfully; to accomplish. [from 14th c.]
3. (obsolete, transitive) To conclude, finish, especially successfully. [14th–18th c.]
4. (transitive) To obtain, or gain (a desired result, objective etc.), as the result of exertion; to succeed in gaining; to win. [from 14th c.]
5. (obsolete, intransitive) To conclude, to turn out. [14th–16th c.]
6. (transitive, now literary) To obtain (a material thing). [from 15th c.]
   • 1700, Matthew Prior, Carmen Seculare. for the Year 1700

   Show all the spoils by valiant kings achieved.

Synonyms

• (carry out successfully): accomplish, fulfil, fulfill, realize
• (conclude): conclude, end, finalize, complete
• (obtain or gain a desired result): attain, obtain, get one's hands on

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• “achieve”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “achieve”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.