What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Plan vs Purpose - What's the difference?

plan | purpose | Synonyms |

Purpose is a synonym of plan.



In transitive terms the difference between plan and purpose

is that plan is to create a plan for while purpose is (passive) Designed for some purpose.

As a proper noun PLAN

is the People's Liberation Army Navy.

plan

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine, etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing to represent doors, valves, etc.
  • The plans for many important buildings were once publicly available.
  • A set of intended actions, usually mutually related, through which one expects to achieve a goal.
  • He didn't really have a plan ; he had a goal and a habit of control.
  • A two-dimensional drawing of a building as seen from above with obscuring or irrelevant details such as roof removed, or of a floor of a building, revealing the internal layout; as distinct from the elevation.
  • Seen in plan , the building had numerous passageways not apparent to visitors.
  • A method; a way of procedure; a custom.
  • * Wordsworth
  • The simple plan , / That they should take who have the power, / And they should keep who can.

    Usage notes

    * A plan ("set of intended actions") can be developed, executed, implemented, ignored, abandoned, scrapped, changed, etc.

    Synonyms

    * (drawing of a building from above): floor plan

    Derived terms

    * battleplan * floor plan * business plan * development plan * marketing plan * masterplan * game plan * contingency plan * action plan * escalation plan * lesson plan * plan A * plan B * price plan * rate plan

    Verb

    (plann)
  • To design (a building, machine, etc.).
  • To create a plan for.
  • To intend.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.}}
  • See plan on.
  • To make a plan.
  • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Derived terms

    * planner * plan on * plan out

    Statistics

    *

    purpose

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘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.}}
  • 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:
  • 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.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Sarah Glaz
  • , title= 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.}}
  • The subject of discourse; the point at issue.
  • (Spenser)
  • The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.
  • The purpose of turning off the lights overnight is to save energy.
  • (obsolete) Instance; example.
  • (rfquotek, L'Estrange)
    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 also
    Derived 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 purpose

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (purpos)
  • Have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.
  • * Macaulay
  • 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.
  • (passive ) Designed for some purpose.
  • (obsolete) To have a purpose or intention; to discourse.
  • (Spenser)
    Derived terms
    * purposed * purposer * purposive * on purpose
    Synonyms
    * (have set as one's purpose ): aim, intend, mean, plan, set out * (designed for some purpose ): intended

    References

    * * *

    Statistics

    *