Other forms: finalists
A finalist is somebody who has reached the last round. A beaten finalist, the four finalists, named as a finalist.
In Britain it also means a student in the final year of a degree, which surprises everybody who meets it first in a competition. Being a finalist is worth listing on any record, since it survives losing.
1nounfinalistSomebody who has reached the last round.
“Each finalist in the singing contest had to perform two songs on the last night.”
finalist is a competitor.
Latin
fīnālis — of or relating to the end or to boundaries
Old French
final
Middle English
final
English
final
English, today
finalist
Built from
From final + -ist. final comes from Middle English final, fynal, fynall, from Old French final, from Latin fīnālis (“of or relating to the end or to boundaries”), from fīnis (“end”); see fine. Replaced native English endly (“final”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA