Etymologically
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goal

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ɡəʊl/, US /ɡoʊl/[1]

Etymology

It is of uncertain origin.[2][3][4][5] An isolated Middle English gol “boundary, limit” appears once in the early 14th century,[2][3] and it may be inherited from Old English *gāl (“obstacle, barrier”), implied by gǣlan (“to hinder”),[2][3][6][7] which would make it a variant of Middle English gale “a way, course”.[2] Less likely, according to Barnhart, it is from Old French gaule (“long pole, stake”), of Germanic origin.[3][2] Klein compares the sense development of Latin mēta (“end, boundary; goal”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Boundary, limit”: before 1333, in Shoreham's Poems,[3] about 1315 in the OED.[8] The word does not recur until 1531, in Elyot's The Boke Named the Governour, as the end point of a race,[3][8] and Barnhart suggests that in the two centuries between it may have survived only in sports.[3]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “the object of effort or ambition” is from the 1540s,[2][8] and the posts or net into which a ball is driven in games such as football from 1548[8] or the 1540s.[2] Scoring by driving the ball there is also a goal.[9] In translations of Latin authors it was used for the column marking each end of a Roman racecourse, from 1667.[8] Goalkeeper is from 1638 and goalie from 1921.[3] The verb, in rugby “to convert a try into a goal”, is from 1922.[8][5]

Timeline

  • before 1333 – gol, a boundary.[3]
  • 1531 – the end point of a race.[3][8]
  • 1540s – the object of effort; the goal in a game.[2]
  • 1638 – goalkeeper.[3]
  • 1921 – goalie.[3]
  • 1922 – verb, in rugby.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The purpose toward which an effort is directed; an objective.
  2. In games, the structure or area into which players try to send the ball or puck.
  3. A score made in this way.
  4. The finish line of a race.

Word family

  • goalless
  • goalkeeper
  • goalie
  • goalpost

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster notes a chiefly Northern American pronunciation /ɡuːl/ in the sporting senses.[10]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster