purpose
UK /ˈpɜː.pəs/ · US /ˈpɝ.pəs/ noun, verb
Forms purposes purposing purposed
- noun The end for which something is done, is made or exists. “What is the purpose of your visit?”
- noun Function, role. “The exceptionally small gate-leg table served the purpose of a tea table admirably.”
- noun (Sense of having a) meaning for existing or doing something.
- noun Resolution; determination.
- noun (obsolete) The subject of discourse; the point at issue.
- verb (transitive) To have or set as one's purpose or aim; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.
- verb (intransitive) To have (an) intention, purpose, or design; to intend; to mean.
- verb (obsolete, intransitive) To discourse.
Synonyms
end point aim meaning determination intention resolution matter subject topic goal object target plan reason for doing something intend mean set out intent design function role use purport propose resolve
Etymology
From Middle English purpos, from Old French purposer (“to propose”) (with conjugation altered based on poser), from Latin prō- (“forth”) + pōnere (“place, put”), hence Latin prōpōnō, prōpōnere. By surface analysis, pur- + pose (“halt, pause, put, place”).
From Middle English purposen, from Old French purposer (“to propose”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun That which a person sets before himself as an object to be reached or accomplished; the end or aim to which the view is directed in any plan, measure, or exertion; view; aim; design; intention; plan.
- noun Proposal to another; discourse. [Obs.] Spenser.
- verb To set forth; to bring forward. [Obs.]
- verb To propose, as an aim, to one's self; to determine upon, as some end or object to be accomplished; to intend; to design; to resolve; - -often followed by an infinitive or dependent clause. Chaucer.
Etymology [OF. purpos, pourpos, propos, L. propositum. See Propound.]
Etymology [OF. purposer, proposer. See Propose.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “purpose”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details