purpose

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English purpos, from Old French purposer (“to propose”), from Latin prō (“forth”) + pausāre, present active infinitive of pausō (“halt, cease, pause”).

Noun[edit]

purpose (plural purposes)

  1. An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.
  2. A result that is desired; an intention.
  3. The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.
  4. The subject of discourse; the point at issue.
  5. The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
terms derived from purpose
Translations[edit]
target
intention
determination
subject of discourse
reason for doing something

to be checked

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English purposen, from Old French purposer (“to propose”)

Verb[edit]

purpose (third-person singular simple present purposes, present participle purposing, simple past and past participle purposed)

  1. (transitive) Have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.
  2. (transitive) (passive) Designed for some purpose.
  3. (obsolete, intransitive) To have a purpose or intention; to discourse.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
Derived terms[edit]
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
have set as one's purpose; intend
passive: designed for some purpose

References[edit]

  • “purpose” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
  • “purpose” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
  • "purpose" in WordNet 3.0, Princeton University, 2006.

Statistics[edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=purpose&oldid=21162452"