See also: AIM, -aim, and áim

English edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /eɪm/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪm

Etymology 1 edit

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.

Noun edit

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.
    Take time with the aim of your gun.
    to take aim
  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.
    • 2012, Francesca Valensise, From Building Fabric to City Form: Reconstruction in Calabria at end of Eighteenth Century[1], Gangemi Editore spa, →ISBN, page 8:
      As a matter of fact the Enlightment culture was based on a philosophy inspired to an ethical laicism whose aim was to create a better society based on principles such as solidarity, equality of rights and duties, and full freedom.
  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.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb edit

aim (third-person singular simple present 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.
    • 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
      Risk is everywhere. [] For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles” [] aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.
  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.
Usage notes edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2 edit

Noun edit

aim

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

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Blackfoot edit

Final edit

aim

  1. control, influence; see ohkottaimm

References edit

  • Donald G. Frantz; Norma J. Russel (1989) Blackfoot Dictionary of Stems, Roots, and Affixes, 3rd edition, University of Toronto Press, published 2017

Estonian edit

Etymology edit

Of Finnic origin. Cognate to Finnish aimottaa.

Noun edit

aim (genitive aimu, partitive aimu)

  1. sense, idea of something, feeling
    Pole aimugi.
    I have no idea.

Declension edit

Declension of aim (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative aim aimud
accusative nom.
gen. aimu
genitive aimude
partitive aimu aime
aimusid
illative aimu
aimusse
aimudesse
aimesse
inessive aimus aimudes
aimes
elative aimust aimudest
aimest
allative aimule aimudele
aimele
adessive aimul aimudel
aimel
ablative aimult aimudelt
aimelt
translative aimuks aimudeks
aimeks
terminative aimuni aimudeni
essive aimuna aimudena
abessive aimuta aimudeta
comitative aimuga aimudega

Mandarin edit

Romanization edit

aim

  1. Nonstandard spelling of áim.

Usage notes edit

  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Scots edit

Etymology edit

Derived from Old Norse eimr (vapour, steam).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

aim (plural aims)

  1. (Caithness) A hot glow, a blast of hot air

References edit

West Makian edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

aim

  1. name

References edit

  • Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours[2], Pacific linguistics (as aym)

Yola edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English ayme, from Old French aesme, esme.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

aim

  1. intent
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 4, page 84:
      Chote well aar aim was t'yie ouz n'eer a blowe.
      I saw (well) their intent was to give us ne'er a stroke.

Related terms edit

References edit

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 84