Etymologically
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target

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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
  • 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