Why do we put "the" before "end"?

At the end of most movies I see the phrase "The end". Obviously the meaning of "end" here is clear, but I don't see a purpose for the "the" before it.

Would you elaborate why it goes before "end"?

Solution 1:

The article is there simply because it is the end of the movie. The rest is convention, plain and simple. In signs, headlines, labels, telegraphic style etc., articles can be dropped alright, so there is no reason for it not to be a simple "End" other than tradition. Note how French does say simply "Fin" and everyone is okay with it. It could just as well have been the other way round, French having "La fin" and English having "End". Just a historic coincidence.

Solution 2:

Why write anything at all ("End" or "The End") at the end of a film? It's basically a tradition for storytelling, so it makes sense at the end of a film that tells a story. IOW, it's not just about films -- open any fairy tale:

"Once upon a time..."
"The end."

Solution 3:

If you were talking about a pencil there would be two ends, a blunt end and a sharp end. Thus it would be ambiguous to refer to 'the end' of a pencil.

But as there is ultimately only one 'end' of a film, I suppose we use 'the end', so that no one is mistaken into thinking that just a subsidiary 'end' has been reached and hence think there is more to come.

Having said that I think French films end with the single word 'FIN'.

Solution 4:

Because there is one end. It is the end. Not an end, of which, in the context, there might be many (unless it's a choose your own adventure book). It's not simply, End. Unless it is, but probably would be done in French for a flourish, fin. But the common usage is "The End."