overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

goal.

A result that one is attempting to achieve.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɡəʊl/Received-Pronunciation[ɡɒʊɫ]Received-Pronunciation/ɡɒl//ɡoʊl/Canada, General-American

  1. A result that one is attempting to achieve.

    My lifelong goal is to get into a Hollywood movie.
    His goal is to become a YouTuber.

  2. To do with sports In many sports, an area into which the players attempt to put an object.

    The racers are approaching the goal.
    fans behind the goal

  3. To do with sports The act of placing the object into the goal.

    miss a goal
    concede a goal

  4. To do with sports A point scored in a game as a result of placing the object into the goal.

    score a goal

  5. To do with grammar A noun or noun phrase that receives the action of a verb.

  6. To do with grammar The subject of a passive verb or the direct object of an active verb.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English gol (“boundary, limit”), from Old English *gāl (“obstacle, barrier, marker”), from Proto-West Germanic *gailu, from Proto-Germanic *gailō (“crevice, gap”); compare the Old English's derivatives Old English gǣlan (“to hinder, delay”), and hyġegǣls (“hesitating, slow, sluggish”), hyġegǣlsa (“slow one, sluggish one”). Possibly cognate with Lithuanian gãlas (“end”), Latvian gals (“end”), Old Prussian gallan (“death”), Albanian ngalem (“to be limping, lame, paralyzed”), ngel (“to remain, linger, hesitate, get stuck”).

verb/ɡəʊl/Received-Pronunciation[ɡɒʊɫ]Received-Pronunciation/ɡɒl//ɡoʊl/Canada, General-American

  1. To score a goal.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English gol (“boundary, limit”), from Old English *gāl (“obstacle, barrier, marker”), from Proto-West Germanic *gailu, from Proto-Germanic *gailō (“crevice, gap”); compare the Old English's derivatives Old English gǣlan (“to hinder, delay”), and hyġegǣls (“hesitating, slow, sluggish”), hyġegǣlsa (“slow one, sluggish one”). Possibly cognate with Lithuanian gãlas (“end”), Latvian gals (“end”), Old Prussian gallan (“death”), Albanian ngalem (“to be limping, lame, paralyzed”), ngel (“to remain, linger, hesitate, get stuck”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

goal has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

goal studiogoal workshello, goal

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.