purpose
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.1pur·pose
noun \ˈpər-pəs\Definition of PURPOSE
1
a : something set up as an object or end to be attained : intention b : resolution, determination
2
: a subject under discussion or an action in course of execution
— on purpose
: by intent : intentionally
See Examples of PURPOSE
- The purpose of the new resort is to attract more tourists.
- The loans are small but they serve a good purpose.
- Sometimes his life seemed to lack purpose or meaning.
- We started work again with a renewed sense of purpose.
- Shocking as it is, more than a month after the hurricane hit, New Orleans is still, for all practical purposes, a ghost town. —Tom Piazza, Why New Orleans Matters, 2005
- By the time … American aid began pouring in, to all intents and purposes the war had already been lost. —Neil L. Jamieson, Understanding Vietnam, 1993
- But wartime wage and price controls prevented companies from competing for the available talent by means of increased salaries. They had to compete with fringe benefits instead, and free health insurance was tailor-made for this purpose. —John Steele Gordon, American Heritage, May - June 1992
- His purpose is to realize himself, to live the fullest possible life, and he is responsible for this, like all men, regardless of how society treats him. —Shelby Steele, Wilson Quarterly, Summer 1990
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Origin of PURPOSE
Middle English purpos, from Anglo-French, from purposer to intend, propose, from Latin proponere (perfect indicative proposui) to propose — more at propound
First Known Use: 14th century
2pur·pose
transitive verb \ˈpər-pəs\pur·posedpur·pos·ing
Definition of PURPOSE
: to propose as an aim to oneself
Examples of PURPOSE
- <I've been purposing to fix that thing for some time now.>
- I have not purposed to misrepresent this boy in any way, for what little indignation he excited in me soon passed and left nothing behind it but compassion. —Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, 1880
- The child then explained that they had left the races on the first day, and were travelling to the next town on that road, where they purposed to spend the night. —Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop, 1841
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Origin of PURPOSE
(see 1purpose)
First Known Use: 14th century
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