finalize

/ˌfaɪnlˈaɪz/

/ˈfaɪnəlaɪz/

Other forms: finalized; finalizing; finalizes

When you put the finishing touches on something, such as agreeing on a specific time and place to meet your friend on Saturday, you finalize your plans.

The word finalize is relatively new, and often people choose to use the words conclude or complete instead, maybe because finalize seems a little fake to them. In the 1920s, an Australian writer took the word final, meaning the very last, and the suffix -ize, and stuck them together to make finalize. Before long it showed up in dictionaries, and the invention of the word was finalized.

Definitions of finalize

1. verb

   make final; put the last touches on; put into final form
   “let's finalize the proposal”

   synonyms: finalise, nail down, settle

   type of:

   end, terminate

   bring to an end or halt