Aims

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /eɪmz/

Definitions

1. Objectives or targets that one seeks to accomplish through effort
2. Plans or intentions formulated to reach a specific result or outcome
3. Desired results or end points intended to be reached through action

Etymology: The word "aims" is simply the plural of "aim," and it arrived in English through a neat piece of medieval guesswork. The verb began as "eimen" and "aimen," meaning to estimate or to judge a quantity, with a Latin root in "aestimare," "to estimate." Its earliest sense was closer to reckoning or assessing than to pointing a weapon, and the shift toward taking a target grew out of the idea of judging where something lies and aiming at it. The noun came from the same Old French stem as the verb, as "esme," meaning estimation or judgement. Over time that sense of estimating gave way to the idea of directing one's thoughts or efforts toward a fixed end, which is how "aims" came to mean the planned goals a person sets out to reach.

Synonyms: goals, objectives, targets, purposes, intentions

Antonyms: aimlessness, indifference, disinterest, inattention, neglect