different between reflect vs purpose

English

Etymology

From Old French reflecter (“to bend back, turn back”), from Latin reflect? (“I reflect”), from re- (“again”) + flect? (“I bend, I curve”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???fl?kt/
• Rhymes: -?kt

Verb

reflect (third-person singular simple present reflects, present participle reflecting, simple past and past participle reflected)

1. (transitive) To bend back (light, etc.) from a surface.

   A mirror reflects the light that shines on it.

2. (intransitive) To be bent back (light, etc.) from a surface.

   The moonlight reflected from the surface of water.

3. (transitive) To mirror, or show the image of something.

   The shop window reflected his image as he walked past.

4. (intransitive) To be mirrored.

   His image reflected from the shop window as he walked past.

5. (transitive) To agree with; to closely follow.

   Entries in English dictionaries aim to reflect common usage.

6. (transitive) To give evidence of someone's or something's character etc.

   The team's victory reflects the Captain's abilities.

   The teacher's ability reflects well on the school.
8. (intransitive) To think seriously; to ponder or consider.
   • 1985, Justin Richards, Option Lock, page 229:

     Not for the first time, he reflected that it was not so much the speeches that strained the nerves as the palaver that went with them.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ponder

Derived terms

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p?p?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p??p?s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)p?s

Etymology 1

From Middle English purpos, from Old French purposer (“to propose”), from Latin pr? (“forth”) + pono, hence Latin propono, proponere, with conjugation altered based on poser.

Noun

purpose (countable and uncountable, plural purposes)

1. An objective to be reached; a target; an aim; a goal.
2. A result that is desired; an intention.
3. The act of intending to do something; resolution; determination.
   • 2013, Phil McNulty, "[2]", 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.
4. The subject of discourse; the point at issue.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

5. The reason for which something is done, or the reason it is done in a particular way.

6. (obsolete) Instance; example.

Synonyms

• (target): aim, goal, object, target; See also Thesaurus:goal
• (intention): aim, plan, intention; See also Thesaurus:intention
• (determination): determination, intention, resolution
• (subject of discourse): matter, subject, topic
• (reason for doing something): reason

Hyponyms

• common purpose
• metapurpose

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English purposen, from Old French purposer (“to propose”).

Verb

purpose (third-person singular simple present purposes, present participle purposing, simple past and past participle purposed)

1. (transitive) To have set as one's purpose; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.
2. (transitive, passive) To design for some purpose. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
3. (obsolete, intransitive) To discourse.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

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

Translations

References

• “purpose” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “purpose”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ?ISBN
• "purpose" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.