Etymology

finalist

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Today it means: An adherent of finalism; someone who believes that a given process or situation is in its final state, with no further change possible. Full definition →

First used 19th c.
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The story

From final + -ist.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 19th c. An adherent of finalism; someone who believes that a given process or situation is in its final state, with no further change possible.
  • from 19th c. Someone who believes that natural processes (especially evolution) are tending towards some specific final state; a teleologist.
  • from 19th c. Somebody or something that appears in the final of a competition.
  • from 20th c. A university student taking their final examinations, or in the year of study when these are taken.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.