object

Pronunciation

• IPA: noun UK /ˈɒb.dʒɪkt/, US /ˈɑːb.dʒɪkt/; verb /əbˈdʒekt/^[1]

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Old French object and directly from Medieval Latin obiectum (“thing put before the mind or sight”),^[2][3][4] a noun use of the neuter of Latin obiectus “lying before, opposite”, which in classical Latin as a noun meant “charges, accusations”,^[2] past participle of obicere “to present, oppose, cast in the way of”,^[2][3][5] from ob “in front of, against” and iacere “to throw”,^[2][3][6] from Proto-Indo-European *ye- (“to throw, impel”).^[2] The verb is from Old French objecter and directly from Latin obiectāre “to set against, cite as grounds for disapproval”, a frequentative of obicere.^[2][3] It is related to jet, eject and project.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An objection, a statement put in opposition: about 1380 in the OED, now obsolete.^[7] A tangible thing presented to the senses: 1398 in the OED and Barnhart, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew,^[7][3] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2] The verb, to bring forward as a ground of opposition: about 1400.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

The earliest idea was of putting something in the way of something else, hence “to oppose”; an obstacle in the path is something that can be seen, which gave the noun its sense of a visible thing.^[6] An obstacle or hindrance is from about 1450,^[7] about 1500 in Etymonline, and survives in no object, “not a thing that matters” (1782).^[2][7] A purpose or thing aimed at is from the early 15th century in Etymonline^[2] and 1597 in the OED,^[7] that toward which thought or feeling is directed from about 1586,^[7] and something that excites an emotion, as an object of pity, from 1588.^[7] The grammatical object is from 1729.^[2][3] Object lesson is from 1831.^[2] The verb had many senses in the 16th century, such as to place in the way, to expose to danger, and to present to the senses, all now obsolete.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – an objection (obsolete).^[7]
• 1398 – a thing perceived by the senses.^[7][3]
• c. 1400 – verb, to raise an objection.^[2][7]
• c. 1450 – an obstacle.^[7]
• early 15th century – a purpose.^[2]
• 1588 – an object of an emotion.^[7]
• 1729 – in grammar.^[2][3]
• 1782 – no object.^[2][7]
• 1831 – object lesson.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A material thing that can be seen or touched.
2. A person or thing toward which feeling, thought or action is directed: an object of pity.
3. A purpose or aim.
4. (grammar) A noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or follows a preposition.
5. (computing) A unit of data together with the operations that act on it.

Verb

1. To express opposition or disapproval; to raise an objection.
2. To state as an objection: he objected that the fee was too high.

Word family

• objector
• objectless
• objectlessness
• superobject
• object-oriented
• objectify
• objectionable
• objective

Related words

• objection
• jet
• eject
• project
• subject

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 l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press