aim definition

English aim definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪm

Etymology 1

The verb is from Middle English amen, aimen, eimen (“to guess at, to estimate, to aim”), borrowed from Old French esmer, aesmer, asmer, from Latin ad- plus aestimare (“to estimate”), the compound perhaps being originally formed in Medieval Latin (adaestimare), perhaps in Old French. The noun is from Middle English ame, from Old French aesme, esme.

Noun

aim (plural aims)

1. The pointing of a weapon, as a gun, a dart, or an arrow, or object, in the line of direction with the object intended to be struck; the line of fire; the direction of anything, such as a spear, a blow, a discourse, a remark, towards a particular point or object, with a view to strike or affect it.

   Take time with the aim of your gun.

   to take aim

2. The point intended to be hit, or object intended to be attained or affected.
3. Intention or goal

   My number one aim in life is to make money to make my parents, siblings and kids happy.

   Synonyms: purpose, design, scheme

   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

     There is no doubt at all that this is the future of machinery, and just as trees grow while the country gentleman is asleep, so while Humanity will be amusing itself, or enjoying cultivated leisure which, and not labour, is the aim of man - or making beautiful things, or reading beautiful things, or simply contemplating the world with admiration and delight, machinery will be doing all the necessary and unpleasant work.

   • 2012, Francesca Valensise, From Building Fabric to City Form: Reconstruction in Calabria at end of Eighteenth Century‎^[1], Gangemi Editore spa, →ISBN, page 8:

     As a matter of fact the Enlightment culture was based on a philosophy inspired to an ethical laicism whose aim was to create a better society based on principles such as solidarity, equality of rights and duties, and full freedom.

4. The ability of someone to aim straight; one's faculty for being able to hit a physical target

   The police officer has excellent aim, always hitting the bullseye in shooting practice.

5. (obsolete) Conjecture; guess.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:

     What you would work me to, I have some aim.

Synonyms

• (intention): aspiration, design, end, ettle, intention, mint, object, purpose, scheme, scope, tendency; See also Thesaurus:goal or Thesaurus:intention

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

aim (third-person singular simple present aims, present participle aiming, simple past and past participle aimed)

1. (intransitive) To point or direct a missile, or a weapon which propels as missile, towards an object or spot with the intent of hitting it

   He aimed at the target, but the arrow flew straight over it.

2. (intransitive) To direct the intention or purpose; to attempt the accomplishment of a purpose; to try to gain; to endeavor;—followed by at, or by an infinitive

   to aim at a pass

   to aim to do well in life

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

     The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed.

   • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:

     Risk is everywhere. […] For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles” […] aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.

3. (transitive) To direct or point (e.g. a weapon), at a particular object; to direct, as a missile, an act, or a proceeding, at, to, or against an object

   to aim an arrow at the deer

   She aimed a punch at her ex-boyfriend.

4. (transitive) To direct (something verbal) towards a certain person, thing, or group

   to aim a satirical comment at Communists in general

5. (intransitive, obsolete) To guess or conjecture.
   • c. 1589–1593, Shakespeare, William, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, act 3, scene 1, lines 44–45:

     But, good my lord, do it so cunningly / That my discovery be not aimed at;

Usage notes

• Sense 2. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

• aim at
• aim for
• ready, aim, fire!

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

aim

1. Initialism of America Online. AIM; AOL Instant Messenger.

Further reading

• aim in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• aim in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• AMI, I am, I'm a, I'm a', I'm'a, I'm-a, I'ma, IAM, Ima, Ima', MAI, MIA, Mai, Mia, i'm'a, i'ma, ima, mai, mia

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Estonian aim definition

Etymology

Of Finnic origin. Cognate to Finnish aimottaa.

Noun

aim (genitive aimu, partitive aimu)

1. sense, idea of something, feeling

   Pole aimugi.

   I have no idea.

Declension

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Scots aim definition

Etymology

Derived from Old Norse eimr (“vapour, steam”).

Pronunciation

• (Caithness) IPA^(key): /ei̯m/

Noun

aim (plural aims)

1. (Caithness) A hot glow, a blast of hot air

References

• “aim, n.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

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West Makian aim definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.im/

Noun

aim

1. name

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[2], Pacific linguistics (as aym)

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Yola aim definition

Etymology

From Middle English ame, from Old French aesme, esme.

Noun

aim

1. intent
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 4:

     Chote well aar aim was t'yie ouz n'eer a blowe.

     I saw their intent was to give us ne'er a stroke.

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 84