Purpose in Different Languages
Discover 'Purpose' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Purpose
Afrikaans doel | ||
Albanian qëllimi | ||
Amharic ዓላማ | ||
Arabic هدف | ||
Armenian նպատակը | ||
Assamese উদ্দেশ্য | ||
Aymara amtawi | ||
Azerbaijani məqsəd | ||
Bambara kun | ||
Basque xedea | ||
Belarusian мэта | ||
Bengali উদ্দেশ্য | ||
Bhojpuri माने | ||
Bosnian svrha | ||
Bulgarian предназначение | ||
Catalan propòsit | ||
Cebuano katuyoan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 目的 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 目的 | ||
Corsican scopu | ||
Croatian svrha | ||
Czech účel | ||
Danish formål | ||
Dhivehi މަޤްޞަދު | ||
Dogri उद्देश | ||
Dutch doel | ||
English purpose | ||
Esperanto celo | ||
Estonian eesmärk | ||
Ewe taɖodzi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) layunin | ||
Finnish tarkoitus | ||
French objectif | ||
Frisian doel | ||
Galician propósito | ||
Georgian მიზანი | ||
German zweck | ||
Greek σκοπός | ||
Guarani rembipota | ||
Gujarati હેતુ | ||
Haitian Creole objektif | ||
Hausa manufa | ||
Hawaiian kumu | ||
Hebrew מַטָרָה | ||
Hindi उद्देश्य | ||
Hmong lub hom phiaj | ||
Hungarian célja | ||
Icelandic tilgangur | ||
Igbo nzube | ||
Ilocano gandat | ||
Indonesian tujuan | ||
Irish cuspóir | ||
Italian scopo | ||
Japanese 目的 | ||
Javanese tujuane | ||
Kannada ಉದ್ದೇಶ | ||
Kazakh мақсаты | ||
Khmer គោលបំណង | ||
Kinyarwanda intego | ||
Konkani उद्देश्य | ||
Korean 목적 | ||
Krio plan | ||
Kurdish armanc | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) مەبەست | ||
Kyrgyz максаты | ||
Lao ຈຸດປະສົງ | ||
Latin rem | ||
Latvian mērķim | ||
Lingala mokano | ||
Lithuanian tikslas | ||
Luganda omugaso | ||
Luxembourgish zweck | ||
Macedonian цел | ||
Maithili प्रयोजन | ||
Malagasy zava-kendreny | ||
Malay tujuan | ||
Malayalam ഉദ്ദേശ്യം | ||
Maltese għan | ||
Maori kaupapa | ||
Marathi हेतू | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯄꯥꯟꯗꯝ | ||
Mizo chhan | ||
Mongolian зорилго | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ရည်ရွယ်ချက် | ||
Nepali उद्देश्य | ||
Norwegian hensikt | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) cholinga | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଉଦ୍ଦେଶ୍ୟ | ||
Oromo dhimma | ||
Pashto موخه | ||
Persian هدف | ||
Polish cel, powód | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) objetivo | ||
Punjabi ਉਦੇਸ਼ | ||
Quechua propósito nisqa | ||
Romanian scop | ||
Russian цель | ||
Samoan faʻamoemoe | ||
Sanskrit उद्देश्यम् | ||
Scots Gaelic adhbhar | ||
Sepedi morero | ||
Serbian сврха | ||
Sesotho morero | ||
Shona chinangwa | ||
Sindhi مقصد | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) අරමුණ | ||
Slovak účel | ||
Slovenian namen | ||
Somali ujeedada | ||
Spanish propósito | ||
Sundanese tujuanana | ||
Swahili kusudi | ||
Swedish syfte | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) layunin | ||
Tajik мақсад | ||
Tamil நோக்கம் | ||
Tatar максат | ||
Telugu ప్రయోజనం | ||
Thai วัตถุประสงค์ | ||
Tigrinya ዕላማ | ||
Tsonga xikongomelo | ||
Turkish amaç | ||
Turkmen maksat | ||
Twi (Akan) botaeɛ | ||
Ukrainian призначення | ||
Urdu مقصد | ||
Uyghur مەقسەت | ||
Uzbek maqsad | ||
Vietnamese mục đích | ||
Welsh pwrpas | ||
Xhosa injongo | ||
Yiddish ציל | ||
Yoruba idi | ||
Zulu injongo |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "doel" is derived from the Middle Dutch word "doel", which also means "target". |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "qëllimi", meaning "purpose", is a derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root *kel- "to turn, drive, set in motion". |
| Amharic | The word "ዓላማ" can also mean "target" or "aim". |
| Arabic | The word "هدف" can also mean "target" or "goal". |
| Armenian | The word "նպատակը" (npataky) is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*tep-," meaning "to stretch, extend, aim." |
| Azerbaijani | "Məqsəd" has historical links with „məğz" ("brain") as it was previously believed the brain is where thoughts and goals originate and are realized. |
| Basque | The Basque word "xedea" has been borrowed from Spanish "idea", and originally meant "mental image or concept" |
| Belarusian | Belarusian "мэта" originates from the Polish "meta", meaning "finish line". |
| Bengali | In Bengali, উদ্দেশ্য is an abstract noun with an archaic meaning of "subject", "topic" or "aim". |
| Bosnian | In Slavic languages, including Bosnian, the word 'svrha' also refers to 'a match' or 'a connection'. |
| Bulgarian | The word "prednaznachenie" also means "predestination" in Bulgarian. |
| Catalan | "Propòsit" is related to the Latin preposition "propositum," meaning "in front of, forth," and also with the verb "proponere," meaning "to place before, to put forward." |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, "katuyoan" can also refer to the "use" or "intended role" of something. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "目的" (mùdì) is a homophone meaning "the end". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 目的 can also mean 'place' or 'goal' depending on the context. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, "scopu" can also refer to a destination or a plan, further highlighting its multifaceted nature. |
| Croatian | The Slavic root `svr` signifies “something above-lying” and thus “above, over. beyond”; this same root is found in the word `svrha` but also in the Czech word `vrch` (“top”) and the Russian word `verx` (“top, extremity, summit, height”). From this root, a verbal root `svrsh`- (“to finish, complete, accomplish”) was formed; from this, `svrha` signifies “that which is finished or accomplished” — specifically, “the goal, the thing aimed at, the purpose.” |
| Czech | Czech 'účel' is also used with the meaning of 'interest' as in the case with Polish 'użytek', which comes from Old Church Slavonic and meant 'profit'. |
| Danish | The word "formål" is derived from the Old Norse word "formáli", which means "goal" or "intention." |
| Dutch | "Doel" also means "target" in archery, as it derives from Old French "dol", meaning "pain" or "suffering". |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "celo" comes from the Latin word "caelum", meaning "heaven" or "sky". |
| Estonian | The word "eesmärk" in Estonian is derived from "eesmärk", meaning "mark in front", or "goal". |
| Finnish | The word "tarkoitus" can also refer to the intended use or function of something. |
| French | French "objectif" derives from Latin "obiectivus" (set before), via medieval Latin "objectivus" and Old French "objectif" (placed in front). |
| Frisian | The word "doel" in Frisian shares an origin with the Dutch word "doel" meaning "target". |
| Galician | In Galician, 'propósito' can also mean 'intention', 'resolve' or 'design'. |
| Georgian | The Georgian "მიზანი" ("purpose") shares a Proto-Kartvelian root with "measure", suggesting that "purpose" and "measure" had overlapping meanings historically. |
| German | The word "Zweck" dates back to Proto-Germanic "*tweh-“ meaning “to divide, to split". |
| Greek | The word 'σκοπός' originally meant 'watchman' or 'observer', reflecting its role as a guide for human action. |
| Gujarati | The word "હેતુ" also means "cause" or "reason" in Gujarati. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "objektif" is a homonym for "objectif" in French, meaning "objective" or "lens." |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "manufa" can also refer to intention, motive, or aspiration |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, the word "kumu" can also refer to the bottom or base of something. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "מַטָרָה" (matarah) also means "target" and derives from the Aramaic word "מַטְרָתָא" (matrata), meaning "place of the arrow". |
| Hindi | उद्देश्य originally meant "to throw into". |
| Hmong | The word lub hom phiaj has two distinct meanings depending on whether it follows the preposition "nrog" "with, by, along". * "Lub hom phiaj nrog" typically means to do something in addition to another. * "Lub hom phiaj", as used in the rest of this book, typically means doing something that is part of an overall plan or process. |
| Hungarian | The archaic meaning of the Hungarian word "célja" is "aim" or "target". |
| Icelandic | The word "tilgangur" derives from "til" (to) and "gangr" (pathway), thus implying a direction or goal. |
| Igbo | The word “nzube” also means “mark” or “print” in Igbo, as in “ịkọ aka nzube” (to leave a mark with your hand). |
| Indonesian | "Tujuan" in Indonesian comes from the Malay word "tuju", which can also mean "to direct" or "to aim at". |
| Irish | Cuspóir can also mean 'object' or 'desire', in addition to its primary meaning of 'purpose'. |
| Italian | The word "scopo" comes from the Latin "scopus", meaning "target" or "aim." |
| Japanese | Although the second character, '的,' is the same as that of '的中' (target), it does not contain the nuance of accuracy. |
| Javanese | 'Tujuane' in Javanese is also used to refer to the 'goal' or 'objective' of an activity. |
| Kannada | The word "ಉದ್ದೇಶ" can also mean "aim", "intention", or "object". |
| Kazakh | The word "мақсаты" can also mean "objective" or "intent" in Kazakh. |
| Korean | 목적 is also used in a religious context to refer to a specific destination or goal, such as heaven or hell. |
| Kurdish | The word "armanc" also refers to the "meaning of life" in Kurdish. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "максаты" is also used to refer to a goal, ambition, or intention. |
| Latin | The word "rem" can also refer to a row in a spreadsheet or database. |
| Latvian | Derived from Proto-Indo-European *merǵ (to wipe, rub), akin to Old Norse and Old English *mark (boundary) |
| Lithuanian | The word "tikslas" is derived from the Lithuanian word "tikti", which means "to suit" or "to be appropriate". |
| Luxembourgish | Zweck, a loanword from German, can also mean "target" or "aim" in Luxembourgish. |
| Macedonian | The word "цел" in Macedonian also means "aim" or "goal" |
| Malagasy | The word "Zava-kendreny" also means "reason" or "cause" in Malagasy. |
| Malay | In Malay, the word "tujuan" can also refer to a direction or destination. |
| Malayalam | The word ഉദ്ദേശ്യം in Malayalam can also refer to an objective, a goal, or an intention. |
| Maltese | The word 'għan' (purpose) in Maltese has Semitic roots and also refers to the destination of a journey. |
| Maori | Kaupapa, a Polynesian word for 'purpose', also carries the meaning of 'cause', 'plan', 'system' and 'method'. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "हेतू" derives from the Sanskrit word "हेतु", meaning "cause" or "reason". |
| Mongolian | The word 'зорилго' can also refer to a target, aim, or goal. |
| Nepali | The word "उद्देश्य" (uddeshya) has different meaning depending on context, primarily as "purpose" but also "aim, intention, or object." |
| Norwegian | The word "hensikt" is derived from the Old Norse word "hyggja", meaning "to think" or "to intend". It has a broader meaning than "purpose" in English, encompassing both the aim or intention of an action and the underlying reason or cause. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The Nyanja word 'cholinga' also means 'to intend', a relationship that is absent in English. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "موخه" also has the alternate meaning of "intention". |
| Persian | The word "هدف" also means "target" in Persian, a meaning derived from its original sense of "aim." |
| Polish | The Polish word "cel" can also mean "target" or "goal". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, 'objetivo' also means 'lens', related to its original meaning of 'something aimed at'. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਉਦੇਸ਼" is derived from the Sanskrit word "uddiś" meaning "to point out" or "to declare". |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "scop" can also mean "target" or "aim", and is related to the verb "a scopi", meaning "to shoot" or "to throw". |
| Russian | The word "цель" also means "aim", "goal", or "target". |
| Samoan | The word "faʻamoemoe" also means "wish" or "intention" in Samoan. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Gaelic word 'adhbhar' also means 'cause' or 'reason'. |
| Serbian | Сврха can also refer to the top or end of something, as in 'на сврси села' (at the edge of the village). |
| Sesotho | In Sesotho, the word 'morero' can also mean 'responsibility' or 'obligation'. |
| Sindhi | In addition to "purpose," "مقصد" can mean "destination" or "target" in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhala word "අරමුණ" (purpose) also means "target" or "goal". |
| Slovak | "Účel posvěcuje prostředky" (The end justifies the means) is the main meaning of "účel", but it can also stand for "aim" or even "goal." |
| Slovenian | The word "namen" derives from the Proto-Slavic word "*namъ", meaning "intent" or "design". |
| Somali | The Somali word 'ujeedada' is derived from the Arabic word 'waḍīʿa', which also means 'purpose', and is also related to the French word 'objectif' and the English word 'object' |
| Spanish | Propósito can also mean "intention," "reason," or "aim." |
| Sundanese | The word 'tujuanana' is derived from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian word *tuju-an, meaning 'to aim at'. |
| Swahili | The word 'kusudi' derives from the Arabic word 'qasd' ('intent') and also means 'aim' and 'goal'. |
| Swedish | The word "syfte" in Swedish is derived from the Old Norse word "skyfta", meaning "divide" or "distribute." |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "layunin" is derived from the Spanish word "ley", meaning "law", and the suffix "-unin", meaning "action or process". This suggests that the original meaning of "layunin" was "the act of carrying out the law". |
| Tajik | The word "мақсад" originated from the Persian word "مقصود" meaning "aim". It has also been influenced by the Arabic word "مقصد" meaning "destination". |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "நோக்கம்" not only means "purpose" but also "intention" and "aim." |
| Telugu | ప్రయోజనం may originate from the Sanskrit "pravyojana" and its alternate meaning is to take advantage of something |
| Thai | "วัตถุประสงค์" in Thai comes from the Sanskrit word "vastu" meaning "thing" and "prayojana" meaning "use". |
| Turkish | The word 'amaç' originates from Arabic and also translates as 'target' in Turkish. |
| Ukrainian | The word "призначення" in Ukrainian comes from the verb "призначати" meaning "to assign" or "to designate", indicating its original meaning as a "designation" or "assignment". |
| Urdu | As a verb "مقصد" means "to intend" or "to aim at". |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word "maqsad" is derived from the Arabic word "maqSad" meaning "destination" or "goal". |
| Vietnamese | "Mục đích" has an alternate meaning: "target" or "objective". |
| Welsh | Welsh "pwrpas" comes from Middle English "porpos" meaning "the thing one sets before oneself as a goal". |
| Xhosa | Injongo is also used to refer to a 'mission' or a 'reason for being'. |
| Yiddish | The word "ציל" (purpose) is derived from Middle High German "zil" (goal, target) |
| Yoruba | The word "idi" also means "destiny" or "fate" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | The word 'injongo' also encompasses the idea of intention, aim, or objective in Zulu |
| English | The word "purpose" derives from the Latin word "propositum," which means "to put forward as a goal or plan." |