• IPA: /eɪm/

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.

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.

   to take aim

   Take time with the aim of your gun.

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

   Synonyms: purpose, design, scheme

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

   • 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.

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 (first performance), 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 ↗, [Act I, scene ii]:

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

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

• French: viser
• German: Zielen
• Italian: mira
• Portuguese: pontaria, mira
• Russian: прице́л
• Spanish: puntería

• French: cible
• German: Ziel, Zielscheibe, Schießscheibe
• Italian: obiettivo
• Portuguese: alvo
• Russian: цель
• Spanish: objetivo

• French: objectif, ambition, but
• German: Ziel
• Italian: obiettivo, scopo, priorità
• Portuguese: objetivo
• Russian: цель
• Spanish: objetivo, intención, meta, finalidad

aim (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 ↗:

     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.

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.

• French: viser
• German: zielen
• Italian: puntare, mirare
• Portuguese: mirar, apontar
• Russian: це́литься
• Spanish: apuntar, dirigir, lazar, asestar

• French: viser, cibler
• German: zielen
• Italian: puntare, tendere, indirizzare
• Portuguese: apontar, almejar
• Russian: стреми́ться
• Spanish: apuntar, pretender

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

1. Init of w:Agape International Missions
2. (ESA, space) Initialism of Asteroid Impact Mission
3. (Internet, historical, 1997–2017) Init of w:AIM (software)
4. (NASA, space) Init of w:Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, a NASA satellite.
5. (UK, finance) Alternative Investment Market, the secondary stock market of the London Stock Exchange; formerly an Initialism of Alternative Investment Market

   Coordinate term: Main Market

aim (plural aims)

1. (US, military) Acronym of air intercept missile

   Coordinate terms: AAM, SAM, ASM, SSM, SRAAM, MRAAM, IRAAM, LRAAM, SM