v. Pa. t. and pa. pple. fulfilled. Forms: 1–7 (see FULL a. and FILL v.), 8–9 fullfill, 3–9 fulfill, 4– fulfil. [OE. fullfyllan, f. FULL a. + fyllan to FILL. Cf. to fill full: see FILL v. 1.]

1

  1.  trans. To fill to the full, fill up, make full. Const. of, with. Now only arch.

2

  a.  in material sense.

3

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Gram., xxvi. (Z.), 153. Compleo, ic fullfylle.

4

c. 1250.  Old Kentish Serm., in O. E. Misc., 29. Þo serganz uuluelden þo faten of watere.

5

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 4319. Al þat huge halle was hastili fulfulled.

6

1382.  Wyclif, Gen. i. 28. Growe ȝe and be ȝe multiplied and fulfille ȝe the erthe.

7

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 102. Aftirward I fulfillide þe wounde with hoot oile of rosis.

8

1483.  Caxton, Gold. Leg., 79 b/2. All the londe therof shal be fulfyllid with deserte.

9

a 1500[?].  Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.), ii. 68. All Beastes I byd yow multeply … the earth to fulfill.

10

1548–77.  Vicary, Anat., ii. (1888), 22. Simple and pure fleshe, which fulfylleth the concauities of voyde places.

11

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 676, Timaeus. The world has received animals, mortal and immortal, and is fulfilled with them, and has become a visible animal containing the visible—the sensible God who is the image of the intellectual, greatest, best, fairest, and most perfect—the one only-begotten universe.

12

  b.  in immaterial applications.

13

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 852 (Gött.). God … fulfild þis world al wid his grace.

14

1413.  Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), V. xiv. (1859), 80. The Apostles were fulfylled with the holy ghoost.

15

1480.  Robt. Devyll, 5. Hys hearte was fullfylled all with thought.

16

1529.  More, A Dialoge of Comfort against Tribulacion, I. Wks. 1151/2. Theyr owne conscience … may fulfil their heartes wyth spiritual ioy.

17

1563.  Homilies, II., Rogation Week, I. (1859), 475. He … fulfilleth both heaven and earth with his presence.

18

1612.  T. Taylor, Comm Titus ii. 12. Be not drunke with wine, but be fulfilled with the spirit.

19

1825.  Scott, Talism., xxiv. I have never known knight more fulfilled of nobleness.

20

1830.  Tennyson, Poems, 35. Her subtil, warm, and golden breath Which mixing with the infant’s blood Fullfills him with beatitude.

21

1864.  Swinburne, Atalanta, 2120. Killing thine eyes And fulfilling thine ears With the brilliance of battle.

22

1870.  Morris, Earthly Par., I. I. 313. When he was fulfilled of this delight.

23

  † c.  To spread through the whole extent of; to pervade. Obs.

24

1382.  Wyclif, Jer. xxiii. 24. Whether not heuene and erthe Y fulfille? seith the Lord.

25

1535.  Coverdale, Dan. ii. 35. The stone … became a greate mountayne which fulfylleth the whole earth.

26

1581.  J. Merbecke, A Booke of Notes and Common places, 436. The glorie of the Lord fulfilling the house.

27

  † 2.  To furnish or supply to the full with what is wished for; to fill as with food; to satisfy the appetite or desire of. Obs.

28

a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter, ciii[i]. 16. Be fulefilled sal trees ofe felde ilkan.

29

c. 1340.  Cursor M., 6842 (Fairf.). Þe seyuende ȝere lete hit ly stille Þe pouer men hunger for to fulfille.

30

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. xv. 33. Therfore wherof so many loouys to vs in desert, that we fulfille so grete a cumpanye of peple?

31

1430–40.  Lydg., Bochas, III. i. (1554), 70 b.

        Thyne empty wombe eche day to fulfill,
If thou mightest haue vittayle at thy will.

32

c. 1450.  trans. De Imitatione, I. i. 3. Þe eye is not fulfilled wiþ þe siȝt nor þe ere wiþ heringe.

33

c. 1500.  Lancelot, 941.

        Madem, your plesance may ye wel fulfill
Of me, that am in presone at your will.

34

1592.  Timme, Ten Eng. Lepers, F ij. Not to sustaine nature … but to fulfill insaciable gurmandize.

35

1601.  Holland, Pliny, I. 114. To fulfill his greedy and endlesse appetite.

36

  3.  To fill up or make complete; to supply what is lacking in; † formerly sometimes with forth. Also, to fill up or supply the place of (something); to compensate for (a defect). Obs. exc. arch.

37

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 219. Al swa fele þe me mihte þat tioðe hape fulfellen.

38

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I. 305/214. Þare-fore man is i-wrouȝt, To fulfulle þe teoþe ordre þat was out of heouene i-brouȝt.

39

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Last Age Chirche, p. xxvii. Cristen men hauen xxi lettris … and ȝeuynge to eche c. þe newe Testament was endid whanne þe noumbre of þes assingned lettris was fulfilled. Ibid. (1382), Phil. ii. 2. Fulfille ȝe my joye.

40

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 29. Þo .ij. defautis þe medlynge of bþ ligament fulfilliþ.

41

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 182. Fulfyllyn or make a-cethe in thynge þat wantythe, supleo.

42

1473.  in Ld. Treas. Accts. Scotl. (1877), I. 30. Item iij quarteris of blak to fulfill furth the lynyng of the Queynis govne, price iij s. ix. d.

43

1533.  Bellenden, Livy, II. (1822), 107–8. The new Faderis chosin at this time to fulfill the auld nowmer of Faderis afore minist.

44

1556.  R. Robinson, trans. More’s Utop. (ed. 2), II. (Arb.), 90. Then they fulfyll and make vp the numbre with cytezens fetched out of theire owne forreyne townes.

45

1850.  Mrs. Browning, Poems, I. 9. Glory and life Fulfil their own depletions.

46

  † b.  absol. or intr. To supply what is wanted.

47

1390.  Gower, Conf., III. 138. Where lacketh good the word fulfilleth To make amendes for the wronge.

48

  † 4.  To fill, hold, or occupy (a position that has been vacant); to take (the place of something). Obs.

49

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 33. Man sholde fuluullen englene sete.

50

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 221. àat it miȝte fulfille þe place of þe þrote.

51

1432–50.  trans. Higden (Rolls), I. 289. Whiche gete turfes … to fullefille the stede of woode.

52

1509.  Barclay, Shyp of Folys (1570), 168. His wretched Carcas shall the voyde graue fulfill.

53

1548–77.  Vicary, Anat., ii. (1888), 18. Some [bones] to fulfyll the hollowe places, as in the handes and feete.

54

  5.  To carry out or bring to consummation (a prophecy, promise, etc.); to satisfy (a desire, prayer).

55

  In origin a Hebraism: a literal transl. of the Vulgate adimplere, implere, Hellenistic Greek πληροῦν, used in an unclassical sense after Heb. [Hebrew] literally ‘to fill.’

56

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I, 104/119. Ȝuit it scholde bi-foren eov alle bi folfuld bi me her.

57

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 26254. His flexs lust to ful-fill.

58

c. 1320.  Cast. Love, 1201.

            The profecye of Symeon
Wes fulfylled than.

59

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 694, Cleopatra. Thilke comenant … I wele fulfille.

60

1400.  G. ap David, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. II. I. 6. Other thinges he behiȝt me the qwich he fulfullyt not.

61

1514.  Barclay, Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.), 9.

        Now be we, Amyntas, in hey up to the chynne;
  Fulfill thy promise, I praye the now begynne.

62

a. 1633.  Austin, Medit. (1635), 43. His purpose was onely to get money: but God’s purpose was (thereby) to bring Mary to Bethlehem. Hee, to fill full his Coffers, God, to fulfill the Prophecies.

63

1769.  J. Brown, Dict. Bible (1818), s.v., To fulfil requests and desires is to grant the things desired.

64

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., I. IV. i. (1872), 101. The universal prayer therefore is to be fulfilled.

65

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., I. xvi. 112. I fulfilled to the letter my engagement with Bennen to ask no help.

66

1864.  Bryce, Holy Rom. Emp. ix. (1875), 145. Otto III’s reign cannot pass unnoticed: short, sad, full of bright promise never fulfilled.

67

1883.  H. Spencer, The Americans, in Contemporary Review, XLIII. Jan., 15. Nature leads men by purely personal motives to fulfil her ends: Nature being one of our expressions for the Ultimate Cause of things, and the end, remote when not proximate, being the highest form of human life.

68

  refl.  1842.  Tennyson, The Gardener’s Daughter, 233. My desire … By its own energy fulfill’d itself. Ibid. (1847), Princ., VII. 121. If you be, what I think you, some sweet dream, I would but ask you to fulfil yourself.

69

  6.  To carry out, perform, execute, do (something enjoined); to obey or follow (a command, the law, etc.).

70

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 1222. To fulfillen godes reed.

71

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 9736. Þi will i sal euermar full-fill.

72

1390.  Gower, Conf., III. 264. That thing may he nought fulfille.

73

1484.  Caxton, Fables of Æsop, II. xvi. I drede and doubte fore my mayster whiche is vponn me whiche constrayneth me to fulfylle his wylle.

74

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 2. So to study this present treatyse, that they may fulfyll it in theyr lyuyng.

75

1645.  Milton, Colast., Wks. (1851), 353. Let not therfore under the name of fulfilling Charity, such an unmercifull … yoke, bee padlockt upon the neck of any Christian. Ibid. (1667), P. L., XII. 402. The Law of God exact he shall fulfil.

76

1777.  Blair, Serm., I. iv. 111. Let us carry on our preparation for heaven … by fulfilling the duties and offices of every station in life.

77

1781.  Cowper, Expostulation, 644.

        To praise him is to serve him, and fulfil,
Doing and suff’ring, his unquestion’d will.

78

1835.  J. H. Newman, Par. Serm. (1837), I. v. 76. In what sense do we fulfil the words of Christ?

79

1871.  R. Ellis, Catullus, lxiv. 309.

        Wreaths sat on each hoar crown, whose snows flush’d rosy beneath them;
Still each hand fulfilled its pious labour eternal.

80

  † b.  To perform, execute, accomplish (a deed).

81

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 288. Ȝif þer were eise uorto fulfullen þe dede.

82

c. 1400.  Maundev. (1839), v. 53. Thei fulfillen first the more longe Pilgrymage, and after retournen aȝen be the nexte Weyes.

83

1582.  A. Munday, Discov. E. Campion, in Arb., Garner, VIII. 205. The deaths of these noble personages should be presently fulfilled.

84

1593.  Shaks., Lucr., 1634.

        Ile murther straight, and then ile slaughter thee,
And sweare I found you where you did fulfill
The lothsome act of Lust.

85

  c.  To fill the requirements of, answer (a purpose), comply with (conditions).

86

1784.  Cowper, Tiroc., 93. If all … Fulfill the purpose, and appear design’d Proofs of the wisdom of th’ all-seeing Mind.

87

1793.  Smeaton, Edystone L., § 304. Every stone fulfils its place inside and out.

88

1834.  Lytton, Pompeii, I. ii. The numerous haunts which fulfilled with that idle people the office of cafés and clubs at this day.

89

1840.  Lardner, Geom., 112. If in two triangles, either of the conditions of similarity be fulfilled, the other condition must also be fulfilled.

90

1860.  Mill, Repr. Govt. (1865), 1/1. To inquire what form of government is best fitted to fulfil those purposes.

91

1862.  H. Spencer, First Princ., II. iv. § 53 (1875), 174. Before a truth can be known as necessary, two conditions must be fulfilled. There must be a mental structure capable of grasping the terms of the proposition and the relation alleged between them; and there must be such definite and deliberate mental representation of these terms, as makes possible a clear consciousness of this relation.

92

1870.  M. D. Conway, Earthw. Pilgr., xxvii. 320. A street speaker and his audience fulfilling the condition of moving on.

93

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 200, Laws, I. The Cretan laws are with good reason famous among the Hellenes; for they fulfil the object of laws, which is to make those who use them happy, for all goods are derived from them.

94

  7.  To bring to an end, finish, complete (a period, portion of time, a work, etc.).

95

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I. 5/145. Ȝwane þe time were folfuld.

96

1340.  Ayenb., 262. Þis boc is uolueld ine þe eue of þe holy apostles Symon an Iudas.

97

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 168. Þere is fulfillid þe firste digestioun of þe guttis.

98

c. 1400.  trans. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. (E.E.T.S.), 71. Turne þe vpon þy left syde, and fulfylle þy sleepe vpon þat syde.

99

1413.  Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), V. i. (1859), 72. A thynge that is infynyte maye not be fulfilled.

100

1526–34.  Tindale, Acts xiii. 25. When Jhon had fulfylled his course, he sayde: Whome ye thinke that I am? the same am I not.

101

1535.  Coverdale, 2 Sam. vii. 12. Whan thy tyme is fulfylled yt thou shalt slepe with thy fathers.

102

1784.  Cowper, Task, VI. 786.

        Six thousand years of sorrow have well-nigh
Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course
Over a sinful world.

103

1814.  Scott, Ld. of Isles, II. xxix. Whose ill-timed speed Fulfill’d my soon-repented deed.

104

  Hence Fulfilled ppl. a.

105

1649.  Milton, Eikon., xxvii. Wks. (1847), 329/1. It would ineviably throw us back again into all our past and fulfill’d miseries; would force us to fight over againe all our tedious Warrs, and put us to another fatal struggling for Libertie and life, more dubious then the former.

106