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goal

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Goal

English

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂-der.
Proto-Germanic *gailō
Proto-West Germanic *gailu
Old English *gāl
Middle English gol
English goal

    From Middle English gol (“boundary, limit”), from Old English *gāl (“obstacle, barrier, marker”), from Proto-West Germanic *gailu, from Proto-Germanic *gailō (“crevice, gap”); compare the Old English's derivatives Old English gǣlan (“to hinder, delay”), and hyġegǣls (“hesitating, slow, sluggish”), hyġegǣlsa (“slow one, sluggish one”).

    Possibly cognate with Lithuanian gãlas (“end”), Latvian gals (“end”), Old Prussian gallan (“death”), Albanian ngalem (“to be limping, lame, paralyzed”), ngel (“to remain, linger, hesitate, get stuck”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    goal (plural goals)

    1. A result that one is attempting to achieve.
      My lifelong goal is to get into a Hollywood movie.
      His goal is to become a YouTuber.
      She failed in her goal to become captain of the team.
      • 2013 November 2, “A shrinking slice”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8860:
        The goal should be to strengthen workers without hamstringing firms. Growth, rather than employment protection, is the priority. More work means a stronger labour market, which would bid up employees’ slice, as it did in America in the 1990s when unemployment was at record lows.
    2. To do with sports
      1. (sports) In many sports, an area into which the players attempt to put an object.
        The racers are approaching the goal.
        fans behind the goal
        play in goal
        The ball rolled slowly into the goal.
        He hit the goal 20 yards away.
        She headed the ball into the goal.
        a left-footed shot on goal
      2. (sports) The act of placing the object into the goal.
        miss a goal
        concede a goal
        let in a goal
      3. A point scored in a game as a result of placing the object into the goal.
        score a goal
        • 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2-1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport:
          The former Forest man, who passed a late fitness test, appeared to use Guy Moussi for leverage before nodding in David Fox's free-kick at the far post - his 22nd goal of the season.
    3. To do with grammar
      1. (linguistics, grammar) A noun or noun phrase that receives the action of a verb.
      2. (linguistics, grammar) The subject of a passive verb or the direct object of an active verb.
        Synonyms: patient, target, undergoer

    Synonyms

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    Derived terms

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    English terms starting with “goal”

    Descendants

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    Descendants

    Translations

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