purpose

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈpɜː.pəs/, US /ˈpɝː.pəs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English purpos, porpos,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman purpos (“aim, intention”), Old French porpos,^[4][2] from porposer “to put forth”,^[4][2] from por- (“forth”), from Latin prō-, and poser (“to put, place”),^[4][2] the source of pose, influenced by the perfect stem prōpos- of prōpōnere (“to put forward”).^[2][5] It is the equivalent of Latin prōpositum “a thing proposed”, but formed in French from the same elements.^[4] Old French porposer was a variant of proposer, the source of propose.^[6][7] The verb is from Anglo-French purposer.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which one sets out to do, an aim or intention: about 1290 in the OED,^[8] about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Intention in general, without an object, is from about 1315,^[8] and the object for which something exists or is made from 1390.^[8] From the mid-14th century it was also the theme of a discourse, the matter in hand, as against digressions,^[4] hence to the purpose, “relevant”, from the late 14th century.^[4][9] Middle English also used it for a proposition, a question or a riddle.^[8] On purpose, “by design”, is from the 16th century.^[9] The verb first meant “to put forward for consideration” (1292),^[8] then “to state, set forth” (about 1380, in Chaucer's Boece) and “to intend” (about 1384).^[2] According to the Century Dictionary the verb should be stressed on the last syllable, like propose, but has followed the noun.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – an aim, intention.^[8]
• 1292 – verb, to put forward.^[8]
• c. 1384 – verb, to intend.^[2]
• 1390 – the object for which something exists.^[8]
• late 14th century – to the purpose.^[4]
• 16th century – on purpose.^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The reason for which something exists or is done; an aim or goal.
2. An intended result; an intention.
3. Determination; resolution: a sense of purpose.
4. The matter in hand: to the purpose.

Verb

1. (formal) To intend or resolve to do something.

Word family

• multipurpose
• all-purpose
• cross-purpose
• general-purpose
• purpose-built
• purposeful
• purposeless
• purposely

Related words

• propose
• pose
• proposition

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
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. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press