destination

[des-tuh-ney-shuh n]

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noun

the place to which a person or thing travels or is sent: Her destination was Rome.

the purpose for which something is destined.

adjective

noting an attraction or event that people are willing to travel a long distance to get to, either because it is very good or distinctive or because it is located in a popular and interesting place: destination restaurants and resorts; a destination wedding in the Caribbean.

Origin of destination

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin dēstinātiōn- (stem of dēstinātiō) an establishing, purpose, equivalent to dēstināt(us) (past participle of dēstināre; see destine) + -iōn- -ion

Related formsmul·ti·des·ti·na·tion, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for destination

target, harbor, stop, terminal, station, haven, terminus, end, object, aim, intention, design, purpose, ambition, objective

Examples from the Web for destination

Contemporary Examples of destination

He seemed to get a little turned around on the way but managed to reach what might have been presumed to be his destination.
Exclusive: Inside a Cop-Killer’s Final Hours
Michael Daly
December 31, 2014
Pan American Airways thought enough of the destination to finance one of the hotel-casinos just off the Malecon.
Will Hyman Roth Return to Havana With Normalized Relations?
John L. Smith
December 18, 2014
Her destination was Corcoran, California, where Charles Manson is spending his remaining days in a state prison.
Mrs. Manson, Hometown Antihero
Justin Glawe
November 24, 2014
What was once just a stopover point quickly became a destination in its own right.
The Lost Libraries of the Sahara‬
Nina Strochlic
September 11, 2014
You will have to forgive him for labeling more than one destination in such a superlative fashion.
The Nile: Where Ancient and Modern Meet
William O’Connor
June 21, 2014

Historical Examples of destination

There is not more than one chance in a hundred of its reaching its destination.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
If he walked fast he might yet overtake his friends ere they reached their destination.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
There we were, and there perforce we must remain till we reached our destination.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
By the time we reached our destination the storm had become truly awful.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
The letter, hastening to its destination, had contained the stolen money.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser

British Dictionary definitions for destination

destination

noun

the predetermined end of a journey or voyage

the ultimate end or purpose for which something is created or a person is destined

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for destination

1590s, "act of appointing," from Latin destinationem (nominative destinatio) "purpose, design," from past participle stem of destinare "determine, appoint, choose, make firm or fast," from de- "completely, formally" (see de-) + -stinare, related to stare "to stand," from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Modern sense (1787) is from place of destination, where one is "destined" to go.