Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#ACCOMPLISH accomplisshen, acomplissen, from Old FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Old French#ACCOMPLISH acompliss-, extended stem of acomplir (Modern French accomplir),^[1] from Vulgar LatinCategory:English terms derived from Vulgar Latin#ACCOMPLISH *(ac)complīre, from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#ACCOMPLISH complēre (“fill up/out, complete”, whence English complete).

First attested in the late 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈkʌm.plɪʃ/, /əˈkɒm.plɪʃ/Category:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#ACCOMPLISH^[2][3][4]
• (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/, /əˈkʌm.plɪʃ/Category:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#ACCOMPLISH^[5]

  • Audio (Southern California):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#ACCOMPLISH
• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /əˈkɒm.plɪʃ/Category:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#ACCOMPLISH
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /əˈkɐm.plɪʃ/Category:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#ACCOMPLISH
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /əˈkɐm.pləʃ/Category:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#ACCOMPLISH
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /əˈkɔm.plɪʃ/, [ɐ.kɔ̞ːm.plɪʃ]; /əˈkəm.plɪʃ/, [ɐ.kɐm.plɪʃ]Category:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English 3-syllable words#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#ACCOMPLISH
• Hyphenation: ac‧com‧plish

Verb

accomplish (third-person singular simple present accomplishes, present participle accomplishing, simple past and past participle accomplished)Category:English lemmas#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English verbs#ACCOMPLISHCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#ACCOMPLISHCategory:Pages with entries#ACCOMPLISHCategory:Pages with 1 entry#ACCOMPLISH

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#ACCOMPLISH) To finish successfully.
2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#ACCOMPLISH) To complete, as time or distance.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 9:2:

     That He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ACCOMPLISH

   • 1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, “War with France”, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, book I, page 231:

     But the rising ground which lay between him and the French prevented him from seeing the enemy until he had accomplished half a league or more.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ACCOMPLISH

3. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#ACCOMPLISH) To execute fully; to fulfill; to complete successfully.

   to accomplish a design, an object, a promiseCategory:English terms with collocations#ACCOMPLISH

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 22:37:

     This that is written must yet be accomplished in me

     Category:English terms with quotations#ACCOMPLISH

4. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#ACCOMPLISH, archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#ACCOMPLISH) To equip or furnish thoroughly; hence, to complete in acquirements; to render accomplished; to polish.
   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:

     The armorers accomplishing the knights

     Category:English terms with quotations#ACCOMPLISH

   • 1638, John Wilkins, The Discovery of a World in the Moone:

     It [the moon] is fully accomplished for all those ends to which Providence did appoint it.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ACCOMPLISH

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
   • 1863, Charles Cowden Clarke, Shakespeare's Characters:

     These qualities . . . go to accomplish a perfect woman.

     Category:English terms with quotations#ACCOMPLISH

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
5. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#ACCOMPLISH, obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#ACCOMPLISH) To gain; to obtain.
   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     And more unlikely / Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns!

     Category:English terms with quotations#ACCOMPLISH

6. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#ACCOMPLISH, PhilippinesCategory:Philippine English#ACCOMPLISH) To fill out a form.

References

Further reading

• “accomplish”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “accomplish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “accomplish”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.