ABSTRACT
Endelig comes from the Old Norse endaligr, and as the noun Endelighed it derives from ende, “end.” The lexical meaning of “finitude” in Danish is found in literary speech as that which is final. It is sometimes a reference to a completed decision. The adjective endelig (“finite”) is used especially in philosophical literature and refers to that which has definite or specific limits in duration or size. In a legal context, it is a limitation of reasons or conditions; it may also refer to a limitation on the amount of time permitted for deliberating upon judgment or decision. It also refers to what is done in a final, decisive manner. In contexts of correction, admission, or confession, endelig can also be used as an adverb to signify a high degree of desirability or necessity, as in English one would emphatically say “finally!”1
