target
Etymology

From Middle French targette, targuete, diminutive of targe ("light shield"), from Old French -, from Frankish *targa, akin to Old Norse targa (whence also Old English targe, targa ("shield")) from Proto-Germanic *targǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *derǵʰ-.

Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /ˈtɑɹɡɪt/, [ˈtʰɑɹɡɪt̚]
  • (British) IPA: /ˈtɑːɡɪt/
  • (Australia) IPA: /ˈtaːɡɪt/
Noun

target (plural targets)

  1. A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile.
    Take careful aim at the target.
  2. A goal or objective.
    They have a target to finish the project by November.
  3. An object of criticism or ridicule.
  4. A person, place, or thing that is frequently attacked, criticized, or ridiculed.
  5. A kind of shield:
    1. A kind of small shield or buckler, used as a defensive weapon in war.
      • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iv], line 200:
        These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at me. I made me no more ado but took all their seven points in my target, thus.
    2. (obsolete) A shield resembling the Roman scutum, larger than the modern buckler.
      • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22:
        The target or buckler was carried by the heavy armed foot, it answered to the scutum of the Romans; its form was sometimes that of a rectangular parallelogram, but more commonly had its bottom rounded off; it was generally convex, being curved in its breadth.
    3. (heraldry) A bearing representing a buckler.
  6. (sports) The pattern or arrangement of a series of hits made by a marksman on a butt or mark.
    He made a good target.
  7. (surveying) The sliding crosspiece, or vane, on a leveling staff.
  8. (rail transport) A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.
  9. (cricket) the number of runs that the side batting last needs to score in the final innings in order to win
  10. (linguistics) The tenor of a metaphor.
  11. (mathematics, category theory) The codomain of a function; the object at which a morphism points.
    Coordinate term: source
  12. (translation studies) The translated version of a document, or the language into which translation occurs.
    Do you charge by source or target?
  13. A person (or group of people) that a person or organization is trying to employ or to have as a customer, audience etc.
  14. (UK, dated) A thin cut; a slice; specifically, of lamb, a piece consisting of the neck and breast joints.
  15. (Scotland, obsolete) A tassel or pendant.
    Synonyms: targe
  16. (Scotland, obsolete) A shred; a tatter.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Verb

target (targets, present participle targeting; simple past and past participle targeted)

  1. (transitive) To aim something, especially a weapon, at (a target).
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To aim for as an audience or demographic.
    The advertising campaign targeted older women.
  3. (transitive, computing) To produce code suitable for.
    This cross-platform compiler can target any of several processors.
Translations


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