終

It is a phono-semantic compound, composed of:

糸 (silk, thread) – semantic element, indicating threads or continuity;

冬 (dong, “winter”) – phonetic element, originally bearing the meaning “end, completion.”

In early usage, 冬 itself once carried the meaning “to end.” Over time, however, 冬 became restricted to the sense of “winter.”

To preserve the original sense of “end, finish,” scribes created a new form by combining 糸 with 冬, producing 終.

Symbolically, the imagery is of a thread reaching its final end, just as the year ends with winter.

When 冬 narrowed to “winter,” the element 糸 (thread) was added to form 終, emphasizing the idea of a thread reaching its end. From this image, it has come to mean “to finish, to conclude, to complete.” It is now a core character across East Asia for all concepts of ending and finality.

In Korean, 종 (終) is widely used in words related to ending, conclusion, or finality:

종결 (終結) – conclusion, termination

종말 (終末) – end, demise

최종 (最終) – final, ultimate

종신 (終身) – lifelong, until death

종료 (終了) – termination, completion