What is the difference between 末 and 終了?

Question

I know that both 末{すえ} and 終了{しゅうりょう} mean "end," but is there a difference between them?

Answer 1

終了 is in the sense of "completed". E.g. 今日の仕事は終了しました。 - today's work has been completed / finished

末 refers to the end (part) of something, e.g. 年末{ねんまつ} - the end of the year

Care has to be taken in how you pronounce it, as すえ or　まつ. For example here: １月の末 - the end (part) of January

This can be read in both ways, but generally speaking, すえ would refer to the last few days of January, whereas まつ　refers to the very end, that is, only the 31st of January.

Also, be careful not to mix up 末 and 未. The latter is used when something is not yet finished, e.g. 未{ま}だ (this is often written in hiragana only), or 未来{みらい} = future, literally "not yet come".