DictionaryAI

achieve

verb
Sayuh-CHEEV/əˈt͡ʃiv/UK/əˈt͡ʃiːv/

Formsachieves, achieving, achieved

5 meanings of achieve

Practice

  1. 1
    accomplishverbtransitive
    To succeed in doing or reaching something you aimed for, usually through effort or skill.

    Negotiators managed to achieve a lasting peace agreement after months of talks.

    The company achieved record sales last quarter.

    UsageFollowed by a noun: achieve a goal, achieve success. Before a verb, use manage to (not incorrect: achieve to win).

    Similarwin

  2. 2
    verbintransitive
    To succeed or perform well, now especially in academic settings.

    Teachers want every child to achieve, regardless of background.

    Students tend to achieve when they feel supported by their families.

    UsageMostly in talk about school: pupils who achieve, high-achieving students. Elsewhere, people usually say what was achieved.

    Similarsucceed, excel, thrive

    Oppositefail

    Note

    Here the verb takes no object and simply means doing well. Its modern home is education: teachers and school reports speak of pupils who achieve, meaning they meet academic standards.

  3. 3
    verbliterarytransitive
    To obtain or gain possession of a material thing.
    Show all the spoils by valiant kings achieved.
    1700, Matthew Prior, Carmen Seculare. for the Year 1700
    He hath achieved a maid That paragons description.
    c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”

    Similarobtain, gain, acquire

    Oppositelose

    Note

    Here the object is a thing in hand, not a goal. In Shakespeare's Othello a man has "achieved a maid," and Matthew Prior's Carmen Seculare (1700) shows "spoils by valiant kings achieved," prizes won and then held. The use now survives in literary style. In everyday prose, achieve takes a result or objective as its object, and a concrete prize sounds more natural with obtain or win.

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To bring something to a conclusion, especially to finish it successfully.
    Note

    Finishing is what the word's origin points to. Old French achever goes back to Latin caput, "head," so to achieve was to bring something to a head, to its end. Spenser still uses it this way in The Faerie Queene (1590), where knights "atchieve" hard adventures, meaning they see them through. A modern reader should take it as "finish," not merely "gain."

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The French ancestor of achieve meant to finish or complete. en.wiktionary.org
    • Old French achever ultimately derives from Latin caput, meaning head, with the associated idea of bringing something to its end. en.wiktionary.org
    • Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene, whose first three books appeared in 1590. en.wikipedia.org
    • In Book III, Canto I, stanza 3, Spenser describes knights completing difficult adventures; atchieve represents the historical spelling atchieue with u/v normalized. gutenberg.org
  2. 5
    verbobsoleteintransitive
    To come to a conclusion or to turn out in a particular way.
    Note

    The intransitive twin of the obsolete "finish" meaning, with the matter itself as subject. In this use an undertaking that achieved came to an end or turned out in some way, and nobody did the achieving. Because the use is obsolete, a modern reader meeting it in older prose should read "ended" or "turned out," never "succeeded."

    Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Achieve had an obsolete intransitive sense meaning to end or turn out, with the subject undergoing the outcome rather than performing an achievement. The final instruction is valid as a gloss of this particular sense. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of achieve apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English achieven, from Anglo-Norman and Old French achever. It apparently derives from Late Latin *accapāre, from ad ("to") plus caput ("head"), or alternatively from a form based on Old French chief ("head"), and is related to Spanish and Portuguese acabar.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  • Achieve comes from Middle English achieven, from Anglo-Norman and Old French achever. en.wiktionary.org
  • Late Latin *accapāre is a proposed source. en.wiktionary.org
  • The proposed Latin formation combines ad, meaning 'to', with a form derived from caput, meaning 'head'. en.wiktionary.org
  • An alternative derivation is based on Old French chief, meaning 'head'. en.wiktionary.org
  • Achieve is etymologically related to Spanish and Portuguese acabar. en.wiktionary.org