Etymologically
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aim

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English aimen, partly borrowed from Old French esmer, amer (“to value, estimate”), from Latin aestimāre (“to appraise, assess”),[2][3][4] and partly from Old French aesmer, from Vulgar Latin *adaestimāre, from ad- “to” and aestimāre.[3][5][6] It is a doublet of esteem,[3] and related to estimate.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To estimate, calculate or reckon, and to intend: 1330 in the OED,[7] about 1300 in Etymonline, about 1303 in Barnhart, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.[2][3] Word Origins sums it up as evaluation before a direction is taken.[8]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense came from calculating the direction of something about to be thrown or struck (about 1380),[7][3] through “to calculate with a view to action, to plan”.[2] To direct a missile or blow is from the late 14th century in Etymonline and 1573 in the OED.[2][7] Middle English also used it of directing a letter, setting up an altar and pitching a tent.[2] The intransitive “to intend, attempt”, used by Shakespeare, is now colloquial.[2] The noun, a purpose, is from the late 14th century,[2] and the act of aiming from the early 15th century;[2] take aim was first make aim.[2] The old sense “guess, conjecture” survives in Midland dialect.[9]

Timeline

  • 1330 – to estimate; to intend.[7]
  • c. 1380 – to calculate the direction of a blow.[7]
  • late 14th century – noun, a purpose.[2]
  • early 15th century – noun, the act of aiming.[2]
  • 1573 – to direct a weapon with the eye.[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To point a weapon or object at a target.
  2. To try or intend to do or achieve something: aim to finish by Friday.
  3. To direct words or a product at a particular person or group.

Noun

  1. Something that a person intends to achieve; a purpose.
  2. The act of pointing a weapon at a target, or the skill of doing so.

Word family

  • aimless
  • aimlessly
  • aimlessness
  • aimer
  • aimful
  • aimfully
  • unaiming
  • misaim
  • esteem
  • estimate

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)