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Purpose vs Suit - What's the difference?

purpose | suit | Related terms |

Purpose is a related term of suit.


In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between purpose and suit

is that purpose is (obsolete) instance; example while suit is (obsolete) the act of suing; the pursuit of a particular object or goal.

As nouns the difference between purpose and suit

is that purpose is an object to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal while suit is a set of clothes to be worn together, now especially a man's matching jacket and trousers (also business suit or lounge suit), or a similar outfit for a woman.

As verbs the difference between purpose and suit

is that purpose is have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan while suit is to make proper or suitable; to adapt or fit.

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

    *

    suit

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A set of clothes to be worn together, now especially a man's matching jacket and trousers (also business suit or lounge suit), or a similar outfit for a woman.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Revenge of the nerds , passage=Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suit ed men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.}}
  • (by extension) A single garment that covers the whole body: space suit, boiler suit, protective suit.
  • (pejorative, slang) A person who wears matching jacket and trousers, especially a boss or a supervisor.
  • A full set of armour.
  • (legal) The attempt to gain an end by legal process; a process instituted in a court of law for the recovery of a right or claim; a lawsuit.
  • (obsolete) The act of following or pursuing; pursuit, chase.
  • Pursuit of a love-interest; wooing, courtship.
  • Rebate your loves, each rival suit suspend, Till this funereal web my labors end. —(Alexander Pope).
  • The full set of sails required for a ship.
  • (card games) Each of the sets of a pack of cards distinguished by color and/or specific emblems, such as the spades, hearts, diamonds and French playing cards.
  • To deal and shuffle, to divide and sort Her mingled suits and sequences. — (William Cowper).
  • (obsolete) Regular order; succession.
  • Every five and thirty years the same kind and suit of weather comes again. — (Francis Bacon).
  • (obsolete) The act of suing; the pursuit of a particular object or goal.
  • Thenceforth the suit of earthly conquest shone. — (Edmund Spenser).
  • (archaic) A company of attendants or followers; a retinue.
  • (archaic) A group of similar or related objects or items considered as a whole; a suite (of rooms etc.)
  • Derived terms

    * birthday suit * bring suit * diving suit * flight suit * follow suit * out of suits * pressure suit * shell suit * suit and service * suit broker * suit court * suit covenant * suit custom * suit service * suitcase * swimsuit * tracksuit * zoot suit

    See also

    *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make proper or suitable; to adapt or fit.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action.
  • To be suitable or apt for one's image.
  • :
  • :
  • To be appropriate or apt for.
  • :
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • :Ill suits his cloth the praise of railing well.
  • *(Matthew Prior) (1664-1721)
  • *:Raise her notes to that sublime degree / Which suits song of piety and thee.
  • *
  • *:“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
  • (lb) To dress; to clothe.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:So went he suited to his watery tomb.
  • To please; to make content; as, he is well suited with his place; to fit one's taste.
  • :
  • (lb) To agree; to accord; to be fitted; to correspond; — usually followed by to'', archaically also followed by ''with .
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:The place itself was suiting to his care.
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • *:Give me not an office / That suits with me so ill.
  • Synonyms

    * to agree: agree, match, answer

    Derived terms

    * suited and booted * suit up * suit yourself