transitive verb
or ful·fil (ˈ)fu̇l|fil sometimes fəlˈf-, rapid sometimes fu̇ˈf- or fəˈf- by l- dissimilation
( fulfilled ; fulfilled ; fulfilling ; fulfills or fulfils )
Etymology: Middle English fulfillen, from Old English fullfyllan, from full (I) + fyllan to fill — more at full , fill
1. archaic : to make full : fill
the world has received animals … and is fulfilled with them — Benjamin Jowett
her subtle, warm, and golden breath … fulfills him with beatitude — Alfred Tennyson
2. : to supply the missing parts of : make whole : integrate
admirable though the illustrations are, their virtue is … that they fulfill the text — Times Literary Supplement
3.
a. : to carry out : accomplish , execute
he had struck out into the wilderness … partly for reasons of his own, partly to fulfill an order of his superior — Vicki Baum
b. : to finish out : bring to an end
she came to install herself and fulfill her time at the house — Willa Cather
c. : to come up to (as a requirement) : meet , answer , satisfy
this work fulfills a need that lawyers have felt for many years — Columbia University Press Books
4.
a. : to measure up to : convert into reality
pioneering courage balanced by a sense of the failure of life to fulfill its ultimate expectations — Leslie Rees
b. : to realize the full potentialities of : develop completely : consummate
the inalienable right of a man to realize his potentialities, to fulfill himself, to enter upon his destiny — August Heckscher b. 1913
Synonyms: see perform , satisfy