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-.

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

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.

• See also Thesaurus:goal
• (translated version) target language

• French: cible
• German: Zielscheibe, Schießscheibe, Ziel
• Italian: bersaglio
• Portuguese: alvo
• Russian: мише́нь
• Spanish: blanco, diana, objetivo (militia), hito

• French: cible, objectif, but
• German: Ziel
• Italian: obiettivo
• Portuguese: objetivo
• Russian: цель
• Spanish: objetivo, destinatario

• Russian: мише́нь

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.

• French: cibler, viser
• German: zielen
• Portuguese: mirar
• Russian: це́литься
• Spanish: encañonar, enfocar, dirigir, orientar, destinar