heterotelic

[het-er-uh-tel-ik, -tee-lik]

adjective

(of an entity or event) having the purpose of its existence or occurrence outside of or apart from itself.

Compare autotelic.

Origin of heterotelic

First recorded in 1900–05; hetero- + tel-² + -ic

Related formshet·er·o·tel·ism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018