target

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈtɑː.ɡɪt/, US /ˈtɑːr.ɡɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of targe (“a light shield”),^[2][3][4] which is late Old English targe and Old French targe,^[2][3] from *targa (“shield”) or another Germanic source,^[3][2] cognate with Old High German zarga “edge, border, frame” and Old Norse targa “shield”;^[2][5] it was perhaps originally the edge of a shield.^[2] The Old French diminutive targete also fed into the English word.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A light round shield: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder,^[3] about 1300 in Etymonline^[2] and about 1400 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A round object with concentric circles to shoot at, first in archery, is recorded by 1757, perhaps suggested by the shape of the shield.^[2][6] Figuratively, a person or thing aimed at, especially as the object of criticism, is also from 1757.^[6] Target practice is from 1801,^[2] and in physics the material at which particles are directed from 1915.^[6] A goal to be reached, as of production, is a 20th-century sense.^[7][8] Target audience is by 1951, first in Cold War psychological warfare.^[2] The verb meant “to shield” from the 1610s, now obsolete,^[2][6] and “to use as a target” from 1837.^[2][6]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a light shield.^[2][3]
• 1610s – verb, to shield.^[2]
• 1757 – a mark to shoot at.^[2][6]
• 1801 – target practice.^[2]
• 1837 – verb, to aim at.^[2][6]
• 1915 – in physics.^[6]
• 1951 – target audience.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An object, often marked with circles, that is shot at in archery or shooting.
2. Anything aimed or fired at.
3. A person or thing that is the object of criticism or attack.
4. A goal to be reached: sales targets.
5. (historical) A small round shield.

Verb

1. To make a target of; to aim at.
2. To direct at a particular group: ads targeted at teenagers.

Word family

• targetable
• targetless
• targeteer
• nontarget
• retarget

Related words

• targe
• targeted
• targeting

Usage notes

A separate target, “a tatter, shred”, is in the OED from 1773.^[6]

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 r 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. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster