conclusion

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The end, finish, close or last part of something.

   “At the end of the seventh hour, a flourish of trumpets announced the conclusion of the contest; […]”

   “Some have recently questioned whether conclusion of a START treaty is a lower priority for the Bush Administration than conclusion of a conventional force in Europe (CFE) treaty or whether we want to delay START pending progress in CFE.”

2. (countable, uncountable)The outcome or result of a process or act.
3. (countable, uncountable)A decision reached after careful thought.

   “The board has come to the conclusion that the proposed takeover would not be in the interest of our shareholders.”

   “[I]n her boſome Ile vnclaſpe my heart, / And take her hearing priſoner with the force / And ſtrong incounter of my amorous tale: / Then after to her father will I breake, / And the concluſion is, ſhe ſhal be thine, [...]”

   “With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get [...]”

4. (countable, uncountable)In an argument or syllogism, the proposition that follows as a necessary consequence of the premises.

   “He granted him both the major and minor, but denied him the conclusion.”

5. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)An experiment, or something from which a conclusion may be drawn.

   “[W]ee practiſe likewise all Concluſions of Grafting, and Inoculating, as well of VVilde-Trees, as Fruit-Trees, which produceth many Effects.”

6. (countable, uncountable)The end or close of a pleading, for example, the formal ending of an indictment, "against the peace", etc.
7. (countable, uncountable)An estoppel or bar by which a person is held to a particular position.

   “It was determined, that though the fine operated at first by conclusion, and passed no interest, yet the estoppel should bind the heir”

8. (countable, uncountable)arrangement; settlement.