In the spring I enjoyed watching the historical drama series Shogun (Disney+ 2024) based on the 1975 book by James Clavell. There was a 1980 mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune on NBC but this new one is outstanding. The production features a mostly Japanese cast and the majority of the dialogue is in Japanese, with subtitles. Hiroyuki Sanada stars as Lord Toranaga. The series was filmed mostly in British Columbia. As Lexy Perez wrote in The Hollywood Reporter (September 2024), “The series, which took nearly 10 years to bring to fruition, marked a major moment for Asian representation and non-English-language television.”
One might think that fruition comes from fruit, but not exactly, although both words do come from the Latin verb frui, meaning to enjoy the produce or proceeds of something. When fruition first came into Middle English (1500s) fruicioun was the use, enjoyment, and joy felt in mystical communion with God. It then expanded to include any enjoyment. Fruition was derived from the Latin and meant the pleasurable use of possession. Poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) wrote about "the sweet fruition of an earthly crowne.” (Tamburlaine revels in the enjoyment of ruling.)
Some centuries later fruition was used as the state of bearing actual fruit, resulting from the mistaken assumption that fruition evolved from the English word fruit. The crops on the Prairies need sun and rain for fruition. Eventually fruition implied realization and accomplishment of anything. All the hard work and extra studying brought her dreams of a degree to fruition. Today fruition has come to be associated with the state of being complete, the figurative application to anything that can be realized, plans or projects bearing fruit, so to speak.
This usage was slow to be recognized in dictionaries. Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language (1890) only defines fruition in the original sense. The Century Dictionary (1889-91) describes the new meaning, yet uses quotes from seventeenth-century authors (Francis Quarles, Thomas Browne, James Howell) that illustrate only the traditional sense.
Synonyms of fruition can be accomplishment, achievement, actuality, attainment, consummation, fulfillment, and realization.
Accomplishment means the act or fact of completing something. He finally achieved the accomplishment of breaking 90 on the golf course.
Actuality implies the quality or state of being real. In actuality, she was the power behind the throne.
Attainment suggests the act of reaching the end or coming into possession of something. She values intellectual attainment above all else.
Consummation means the ultimate end. The asteroid nearing earth could signal the consummation of life on the planet.
Fulfillment implies the act or process of delivering something. He achieved the fulfillment of all the requirements for acquiring the degree at the university.
Realization suggests the act of bringing into concrete existence. When he saw the sign he came to the realization he was going the wrong way.
There are a lot of people wondering when interest rates are going to drop further. A downward trend in the coming months would be good for mortgages and any type of debt. But it will mean that savings will not produce as much income in the future. It seems the Bank of Canada will lower the bank rate as time goes on, as the total CPI inflation hit 2.0% in August. If that comes to fruition we may get back to a 1.00 bank rate, although I think the days are over for a bank rate of 0.25, as it was in 2020. But we will see.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to [email protected]. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
