Etymologically
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purpose

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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
  • 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