conclusion Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration
    decision; determination.
    • a decision unfavorable to the opposition
    • his conclusion took the evidence into account
    • satisfied with the panel's determination
  2. noun an intuitive assumption
    • jump to a conclusion
  3. noun the temporal end; the concluding time
    finish; last; finis; finale; close; stopping point.
    • the stopping point of each round was signaled by a bell
    • the market was up at the finish
    • they were playing better at the close of the season
  4. noun event whose occurrence ends something
    finish; ending.
    • his death marked the ending of an era
    • when these final episodes are broadcast it will be the finish of the show
  5. noun the proposition arrived at by logical reasoning (such as the proposition that must follow from the major and minor premises of a syllogism)
    ratiocination.
  6. noun the act of ending something
    termination; ending.
    • the termination of the agreement
  7. noun a final settlement
    • the conclusion of a business deal
    • the conclusion of the peace treaty
  8. noun the last section of a communication
    close; closing; ending; end.
    • in conclusion I want to say...
  9. noun the act of making up your mind about something
    decision; determination.
    • the burden of decision was his
    • he drew his conclusions quickly

WordNet

Con*clu"sion noun
Etymology
F., fr. L. conclusio. See Conclude.
Definitions
  1. The last part of anything; close; termination; end.
    A fluorish of trumpets announced the conclusion of the contest. Prescott.
  2. Final decision; determination; result.
    And the conclusion is, she shall be thine. Shak.
  3. Any inference or result of reasoning.
  4. (Logic) The inferred proposition of a syllogism; the necessary consequence of the conditions asserted in two related propositions called premises. See Syllogism.
    He granted him both the major and minor, but denied him the conclusion. Addison.
  5. Drawing of inferences. Poetic
    Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes And still conclusion. Shak.
  6. An experiment, or something from which a conclusion may be drawn. Obs.
    We practice likewise all conclusions of grafting and inoculating. Bacon.
  7. (Law) (a) The end or close of a pleading, e.g., the formal ending of an indictment, "against the peace," etc. (b) An estoppel or bar by which a person is held to a particular position. Wharton.
    Like the famous ape, To try conclusions, in the basket creep. Shak.
    Syn. -- Inference; deduction; result; consequence; end; decision. See Inference.

Webster 1913