What is the difference between intention and purpose?
intention | purpose |
A course of action that a person intends to follow.
:
*(Samuel Johnson) (1709-1784) (but see
*:Hell is paved with good intentions .
*
*:“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
*{{quote-book, year=1935, author=
, title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=3
, passage=It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless. And results are all that concern me.
The goal or purpose behind a specific action or set of actions.
:
(lb) Tension; straining, stretching.
*, I.iii.3:
*:cold in those inner parts, cold belly, and hot liver, causeth crudity, and intention proceeds from perturbations […].
A stretching or bending of the mind toward of the mind toward an object; closeness of application; fixedness of attention; earnestness.
*(John Locke) (1632-1705)
*:Intention is when the mind, with great earnestness, and of choice, fixes its view on any idea.
(lb) The object toward which the thoughts are directed; end; aim.
*1732 , (John Arbuthnot),
*:In a Word, the most part of chronical Distempers proceed from Laxity of Fibres; in which Case the principal Intention is to restore the Tone of the solid Parts;.
(lb) Any mental apprehension of an object.
(lb) The process of the healing of a wound.
*2007 , Carie Ann Braun, ?Cindy Miller Anderson, Pathophysiology: Functional Alterations in Human Health ,
*:When healing occurs by primary intention , the wound is basically closed with all areas of the wound connecting and healing simultaneously.
(Webster 1913)
An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=
, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= A result that is desired; an intention.
The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.
* 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980]", BBC Sport , 1 September 2013:
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=
, title= The subject of discourse; the point at issue.
The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.
(obsolete) Instance; example.
Have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.
* Macaulay
(passive ) Designed for some purpose.
(obsolete) To have a purpose or intention; to discourse.
Purpose is a synonym of intention.
In obsolete terms the difference between intention and purpose
is that intention is any mental apprehension of an object while purpose is instance; example.As nouns the difference between intention and purpose
is that intention is a course of action that a person intends to follow while purpose is an object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.As a verb purpose is
have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.intention
English
(wikipedia intention)Alternative forms
* entention (obsolete)Noun
(en noun)Apocryhpha)
George Goodchild
An Essay Concerning the Nature of Ailments …, Prop. II, p.159:
p.49:
Derived terms
* intentional * the road to hell is paved with good intentions * well-intentionedpurpose
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)Ed Pilkington
‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told, passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
- United began with more purpose in the early phase of the second half and Liverpool were grateful for Glen Johnson's crucial block from Young's goalbound shot.
Sarah Glaz
Ode to Prime Numbers, volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.}}
- (Spenser)
- The purpose of turning off the lights overnight is to save energy.
Synonyms
* (target ): aim, goal, object, target * (intention ): aim, plan, intention * (determination ): determination, intention, resolution * (subject of discourse ): matter, subject, topic * (reason for doing something ): reason * See alsoDerived terms
(terms derived from purpose) * all-purpose * common purpose * cross-purpose * fit for purpose * for all intents and purposes * game with a purpose * general-purpose * infinitive of purpose * multi-purpose * metapurpose * purpose-built * purposeful * purposeless * purpose-like * purpose loan * purposely * purpose statement * on purposeEtymology 2
From (etyl)Verb
(purpos)- I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living.
- (Spenser)
