purpose

[pur-puhs]

noun

1. the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.

   Synonyms: target, objective, object, rationale, point

2. an intended or desired result; end; aim; goal.

3. determination; resoluteness.

4. the subject in hand; the point at issue.

5. practical result, effect, or advantage.

   to act to good purpose.

verb (used with object)

purposed, purposing 

1. to set as an aim, intention, or goal for oneself.

2. to intend; design.

   Synonyms: plan, contemplate, mean

3. to resolve (to do something).

   He purposed to change his way of life radically.

verb (used without object)

purposed, purposing 

1. to have a purpose.

purpose

/ ˈpɜːpəs /

noun

1. the reason for which anything is done, created, or exists

2. a fixed design, outcome, or idea that is the object of an action or other effort

3. fixed intention in doing something; determination

   a man of purpose

4. practical advantage or use

   to work to good purpose

5. that which is relevant or under consideration (esp in the phrase to or from the purpose )

6. archaic,  purport

7. intentionally

verb

1. to intend or determine to do (something)

Other Word Forms

• prepurpose verb (used with object)
• repurpose verb (used with object)
• unpurposed adjective
• unpurposing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of purpose¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; (noun) Middle English purpos, from Old French, derivative of purposer, variant of proposer “to propose ”; (verb) Middle English purposen, from Anglo-French, Old French purposer

Word History and Origins

Origin of purpose¹

C13: from Old French porpos, from porposer to plan, from Latin prōpōnere to _propose

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on purpose, by design; intentionally.

   How could you do such a thing on purpose?

2. to the purpose, relevant; to the point.

   Her objections were not to the purpose.

see at cross purposes; for all intents and purposes; on purpose; serve a purpose; to good purpose; to little or no purpose.

Synonym Study

See intention.

Example Sentences

“There’s enormous pressure to develop drinks that are both good to drink but also play well on social media for promotional purposes.”

Read more on Salon

For inheritance purposes, the court said he had two fathers—the one who raised him and Heater, his biological dad.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"We simply don't know the effects in people using these drugs purely for cosmetic purposes," says Simon Cork, senior lecturer in physiology at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK.

Read more on BBC

So Night and Day was about journalism and its purposes; the Real Thing was about love and infidelity and starred Felicity Kendal, for whom Stoppard left his second wife, the doctor and broadcaster Miriam Stoppard.

Read more on BBC

One couple told us the issue is a "national scandal" and that "adoption as it stands" is "not fit for purpose".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• ambition 
• aspiration 
• desire 
• determination 
• direction 
• function 
• goal 
• idea 
• intent 
• objective 
• plan 
• principle 
• project 
• reason 
• scheme 
• scope 
• view 
• wish