Etymograph

English

purpose

Purpose comes from Middle English purpos, from Old French purposer ‘to propose’, from Latin prōpōnō (prō- + pōnō ‘to put’).

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnō‘to place, put’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōpōnōas prōpōnō‘to put forth, propose’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400purposer‘to propose’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500purpos
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599purpose

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnō‘to place, put’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōpōnōas prōpōnō‘to put forth, propose’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400purposer‘to propose’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500purpos
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1598–1599purpose

Earliest quotation: 1598–1599, William Shakespeare: “[…]he was woont to ſpeake plaine, and to the…”

Equivalent to pur- + pose ‘halt, pause, put, place’

Proto-Indo-European *pro- ‘toward, forward’

Proto-Italic *pro-

English pur-

Ancient Greek παύω ‘stop, end’

…

Latin pausa ‘pause’

Vulgar Latin pausāre ‘to blin, cease, pause’

Old French poser ‘to put, place, stell, settle, lodge’

Middle English posen

English pose

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱey- ‘to cultivate’

homeless, compound, suppose, hamlet, bohemian, impose, homely, hame, 48 more

through Proto-Indo-European *tḱinéti

prepositional, apposite, 37 more

through Proto-Italic *sinō ‘to put in place’

site, situation, composition, posture, situate, supposition, preposition, positivism, situs, compostela, 39 more

through Proto-Italic *pozinō

opposition, exposition, deposition, disposition, imposition, compost, suppository, presupposition, compositor, impost, 24 more

through Latin pōnō ‘put, place’

post, position, positive, opposite, opponent, consolation, expose, repository, dispose, compose, exponent, expound, posit, pone, presuppose, 53 more

through Latin propono ‘to set forth, to put forth, to lay out’

proposition, propose, proponent, 2 more

Another origin of purpose

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-‘to build, cultivate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱinétireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sinō‘to put in place’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsame form‘to put in place’reconstructed
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpōnō‘place, put’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōpōnō
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400purposer‘to propose’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500purposen
  9. Englishtodaypurpose

Today it means

noun The end for which something is done, is made or exists.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin pōnō / purpose

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