Other forms: purposes
The purpose of something is the reason it exists or is done — its point. The purpose of the meeting, serve a purpose, what is the purpose of this?
It also means determination: a sense of purpose, he walked with purpose. That use describes a person rather than a thing. Two fixed phrases matter. On purpose means deliberately, and it is the everyday opposite of by accident. And for the purpose of is a formal way of saying in order to, common in contracts and official writing. Note purposeful, meaning determined, and purposely, meaning deliberately, which are not the same word.
1nounpurposeThe reason something exists or is done.
“Nobody could explain the purpose of the form.”
synonyms: aim, point, objective
2noundeterminationDetermination and a sense of direction.
“She came back with a real sense of purpose.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
purpose is a reason or aim.
Also accepted in games: aim, goal
Old French purposer meant to put forward, from Latin proponere, to set out — the same verb behind propose and purpose, which are the same word arriving twice by different routes. A purpose is something set out in front of you.
Middle English
purpos
English, today
purpose
Built from
From Middle English purpos. From Middle English purpos, from Old French purposer (“to propose”) (with conjugation altered based on poser), from Latin prō- (“forth”) + pono (“place, put”), hence Latin propono. by surface analysis, pur- + pose.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA