goal

See also: Goal

English

Etymology

From Middle English gol (“boundary, limit”), from Old English *gāl (“obstacle, barrier, marker”), suggested by its derivatives Old English gǣlan (“to hinder, delay, impede, keep in suspense, linger, hesitate, dupe”), 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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡəʊl/, [ɡɒʊɫ]
• (New Zealand, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɡɐʉl/, [ɡɒʊɫ]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡoʊl/, [ɡoɫ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊl

Noun

goal (plural goals)

1. A result that one is attempting to achieve.

   My lifelong goal is to get into a Hollywood movie.

   She failed in her goal to become captain of the team.

   • 2013 November 2, “A shrinking slice”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8860:

     The goal should be to strengthen workers without hamstringing firms. Growth, rather than employment protection, is the priority. More work means a stronger labour market, which would bid up employees’ slice, as it did in America in the 1990s when unemployment was at record lows.

2. (sports) In many sports, an area into which the players attempt to put an object.

   fans behind the goal

   play in goal

3. (sports) The act of placing the object into the goal.

   miss a goal

   concede a goal

   let in a goal

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

   score a goal

   • 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2-1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport:

     The former Forest man, who passed a late fitness test, appeared to use Guy Moussi for leverage before nodding in David Fox's free-kick at the far post - his 22nd goal of the season.

5. (linguistics, grammar) A noun or noun phrase that receives the action of a verb. The subject of a passive verb or the direct object of an active verb. Also called a patient, target, or undergoer.

Synonyms

• (a result one is attempting to achieve:) ambition, object of desire, objective, purpose, aspiration
• See also Thesaurus:goal

Derived terms

Pages starting with “goal”.

• any hole's a goal
• away goal
• basketball goal
• captain's goal
• consolation goal
• distal goal
• drop-goal
• drop goal
• dropped goal
• empty net goal
• empty-net goal
• end goal
• field goal
• field goal percentage
• ghost goal
• goal area
• goal attack
• goal average
• goalball
• goal cage
• goal celebration
• goal defence
• goal difference
• goal-directed
• goalgetter
• goalie
• goal judge
• goalkeeper
• goal keeper
• goal kick
• goalless
• goal line
• goal-line
• goal machine
• goal-orientated
• goal-oriented
• goalpost
• goal post
• goal setting
• goal shooter
• goal square
• goal-suck
• goal suck
• goaltender
• goal third
• goal umpire
• golden goal
• in goal
• in-goal
• insurance goal
• life goal
• move the goal posts
• non-goal
• Olympic goal
• open goal
• own goal
• penalty goal
• phantom goal
• shot on goal
• silver goal
• squad goal
• stretch goal
• subgoal
• touch-in-goal

 

Descendants

Descendants

• → Armenian: գոլ (gol)
• → Basque: gol
• → Belarusian: гол (hol)
• → Bulgarian: гол (gol)
• → Catalan: gol
• → Central Kurdish: گۆڵ (goll)
• → Czech: gól
• → Dutch: goal
• → Esperanto: golo
• → French: goal
• → Galician: gol
• → Georgian: გოლი (goli)
• → Greek: γκολ (gkol)
• → Hungarian: gól
• → Ido: golo
• → Indonesian: gol
• → Italian: gol, goal
• → Japanese: ゴール (gōru)
• → Korean: 골 (gol)
• → Luxembourgish: Gol
• → Maori: kōrā
• → Persian: گل (gol)
• → Polish: gol
• → Portuguese: golo, gol
• → Romanian: gol
• → Russian: гол (gol)
• → Serbo-Croatian: го̑л (gȏl)
• → Slovak: gól
• → Slovene: gól
• → Spanish: gol
• → Telugu: గోలు (gōlu)
• → Turkish: gol
• → Ukrainian: гол (hol)
• → Zazaki: gol

Translations

result one is attempting to achieve

• Albanian: qëllim (sq) m
• Arabic: هَدَف (ar) m (hadaf), مَقْصَد m (maqṣad), غَايَة f (ḡāya)

  Hijazi Arabic: هَدَف m (hadaf)

• Armenian: նպատակ (hy) (npatak)
• Azerbaijani: məqsəd (az), hədəf (az)
• Bashkir: маҡсат (maqsat), теләк (telək), мәрәй (mərəy), сәп (səp)
• Basque: helburu, xede
• Belarusian: мэ́та (be) f (méta), цэль f (celʹ)
• Bengali: লক্ষ্য (bn) m (lokkkho)
• Bulgarian: цел (bg) f (cel)
• Burmese: ရည်မှန်းချက် (my) (ranyhman:hkyak), ဦးတည်ချက် (my) (u:tanyhkyak)
• Catalan: objectiu (ca) m, meta (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 目標／目标 (zh) (mùbiāo), 目的 (zh) (mùdì)

• Crimean Tatar: maqsat
• Czech: cíl (cs) m
• Danish: mål (da) n
• Dutch: doel (nl) n, bedoeling (nl), objectief (nl) n, oogmerk (nl) n
• Esperanto: celo (eo)
• Estonian: eesmärk (et)
• Faroese: mál (fo) n
• Finnish: päämäärä (fi), tavoite (fi), maali (fi)
• French: objectif (fr) m, but (fr) m
• Georgian: მიზანი (mizani)
• German: Ziel (de) n

  Alemannic German: Ziil n

• Greek: σκοπός (el) m (skopós), επιδίωξη (el) f (epidíoxi), στόχος (el) m (stóchos), τερματισμός (el) (termatismós)

  Ancient: σκοπός m (skopós)

• Hebrew: מַטָּרָה (he) f (matará)
• Hindi: लक्ष्य (hi) m (lakṣya), मक़सद m (maqsad), उद्देश्य (hi) m (uddeśya), हदफ़ m (hadaf), निशाना (hi) m (niśānā)
• Hungarian: cél (hu)
• Icelandic: markmið (is) n
• Ido: skopo (io)
• Indonesian: tujuan (id), sasaran (id), cita-cita (id)
• Irish: sprioc (ga) f
• Italian: obiettivo (it) m, scopo (it) m, risultato (it) m, fine (it) m, traguardo (it) m
• Japanese: 目標 (ja) (もくひょう, mokuhyō), 目的 (ja) (もくてき, mokuteki), ゴール (ja) (gōru)
• Kazakh: мақсат (maqsat)
• Khmer: ទិស (km) (tɨh), គោល (km) (kool)
• Korean: 목표(目標) (ko) (mokpyo), 목적(目的) (ko) (mokjeok), 골 (ko) (gol)
• Kumyk: тилек (tilek)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hedef (ku), mexsed (ku)

• Kyrgyz: максат (ky) (maksat), бута (ky) (buta)
• Lao: ເປົ້າໝາຍ (pao māi)
• Latgalian: snāgs
• Latvian: mērķis m
• Lithuanian: tikslas (lt) m
• Luxembourgish: Zil n, But m
• Macedonian: цел f (cel)
• Malay: tujuan (ms)
• Maori: hemonga, whāinga (mi)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: зорилго (mn) (zorilgo)

• Ngazidja Comorian: makswaɗa
• Northern Altai: тамга (tamga)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: målsetting (no) c, formål (no) n, siktemål n, mål (no) n

• Occitan: objectiu (oc) m
• Ottoman Turkish: مقصد (maksad), هدف (hedef), غایه (gaye)
• Pashto: هدف m (hadáf), مقصد m (maqsád)
• Persian: هدف (fa) (hadaf), مقصد (fa) (maqsad)
• Polish: cel (pl) m
• Portuguese: meta (pt) f, objetivo (pt) m
• Romanian: scop (ro) n, obiectiv (ro) n
• Russian: цель (ru) f (celʹ)
• Sanskrit: उद्देश (sa) m (uddeśa)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ци̑љ m

  Roman: cȋlj (sh) m

• Slovak: cieľ m
• Slovene: cilj (sl) m, namen (sl) m
• Southern Altai: амаду (amadu), таҥма (taŋma), мӧрӧй (möröy)
• Spanish: meta (es), objetivo (es) m
• Swedish: mål (sv) n
• Tajik: мақсад (tg) (maqsad), ҳадаф (tg) (hadaf)
• Tatar: максат (tt) (maqsat), цель (tsel’)
• Telugu: లక్ష్యం (te) (lakṣyaṁ)
• Thai: เป้าหมาย (th) (bpâo-mǎai)
• Turkish: amaç (tr), hedef (tr), maksat (tr)
• Turkmen: maksat
• Ukrainian: мета́ (uk) f (metá), ціль (uk) f (cilʹ)
• Urdu: مقصد m (maqsad), ہدف m (hadaf)
• Uyghur: مەقسەت (meqset), نىشان (nishan)
• Uzbek: maqsad (uz), hadaf (uz), nishon (uz)
• Vietnamese: mục tiêu (vi), mục đích (vi)
• Yiddish: ציל (tsil)

in many sports, an area into which the players attempt to put an object

• Arabic: مَرْمًى m (marman)

  Egyptian Arabic: جون m (gōn), جول m (gōl)

  Hijazi Arabic: مَرْمى m (marma)

• Armenian: դարպաս (hy) (darpas)
• Azerbaijani: qapı (az)
• Basque: ate (eu)
• Belarusian: варо́ты pl (varóty)
• Bulgarian: врата (bg) f (vrata)
• Catalan: porteria (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 球門／球门 (zh) (qiúmén)

• Czech: brána (cs) f, branka (cs) f
• Danish: mål (da)
• Dutch: doel (nl) n, goal (nl)
• Esperanto: golejo
• Estonian: värav
• Faroese: mál (fo) n
• Finnish: maali (fi)
• French: but (fr) m
• Georgian: კარი (ka) (ḳari)
• German: Tor (de) n
• Greek: τέρμα (el) n (térma)
• Hebrew: שַׁעַר (he) m (shá'ar)
• Hungarian: kapu (hu)
• Icelandic: mark (is) n
• Ido: golo (io)
• Indonesian: gawang (id)
• Irish: cúl m, báire m
• Italian: porta (it) f, rete (it) f
• Japanese: ゴール (ja) (gōru)
• Korean: 골 (ko) (gol)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گۆڵ (goll)

• Lao: ປະຕູ (lo) (pa tū)
• Latvian: vārti (lv) m pl
• Luxembourgish: Gol m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mål (no) n

• Persian: گل (fa) (gol)
• Polish: bramka (pl) f
• Portuguese: (Brazil) gol (pt) m, (Portugal) baliza (pt) f
• Romanian: poartă (ro) f
• Russian: воро́та (ru) pl (voróta)
• Scottish Gaelic: bàir f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: го̑л m, вра́та f

  Roman: gȏl (sh) m, vráta (sh) f

• Slovak: bránka f
• Slovene: gól (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wrota pl

• Spanish: portería (es) f, arco (es) m
• Swahili: bao (sw)
• Swedish: mål (sv) n
• Telugu: గోలు (te) (gōlu)
• Thai: ประตู (th) (bprà-dtuu)
• Turkish: kale (tr)
• Ukrainian: воро́та pl (voróta)
• Vietnamese: cầu môn (vi)

(sport) act of placing the object into the goal

• Arabic: هَدَف (ar) m (hadaf)

  Egyptian Arabic: جون m (gōn), جول m (gōl)

  Hijazi Arabic: هَدَف m (hadaf), قول m (gōl)

• Armenian: գոլ (hy) (gol)
• Basque: gol (eu)
• Belarusian: гол m (hol)
• Bulgarian: гол (bg) m (gol)
• Catalan: gol (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 進球／进球 (zh) (jìnqiú)

• Czech: gól (cs) m, branka (cs) f
• Danish: mål (da)
• Dutch: doelpunt (nl) n
• Esperanto: golo (eo)
• Faroese: mál (fo)
• Finnish: maali (fi)
• French: but (fr) m
• Galician: gol m
• Georgian: გოლი (goli)
• German: Tor (de) n
• Greek: τέρμα (el) n (térma), καλάθι (el) n (kaláthi), γκολ (el) n (gkol)
• Hungarian: gól (hu)
• Icelandic: mark (is) n
• Indonesian: gol (id)
• Irish: cúl m, báire m
• Italian: gol (it) m, rete (it) f, goal (it) m
• Japanese: ゴール (ja) (gōru)
• Korean: 골 (ko) (gol)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گؤڵ کردن

• Luxembourgish: Gol m
• Nepali: गोल (ne) (gol)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mål (no) n

• Persian: گل (fa) (gol)
• Polish: gol (pl) m
• Portuguese: (Brazil) gol (pt) m, (Portugal) golo (pt) m
• Romanian: gol (ro) n
• Russian: гол (ru) m (gol)
• Scottish Gaelic: tadhal m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: го̑л m, по̀годак m, згоди́так m

  Roman: gȏl (sh) m, pògodak (sh) m, zgodítak (sh) m

• Slovak: gól (sk) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wrota pl

• Spanish: gol (es) m
• Swahili: bao (sw)
• Swedish: mål (sv) n
• Telugu: గోలు (te) (gōlu)
• Turkish: gol (tr)
• Ukrainian: гол (uk) m (hol)
• Vietnamese: ghi bàn

point(s) scored

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: هَدَف (ar) m (hadaf)

  Hijazi Arabic: هَدَف m (hadaf), قول m (gōl)

• Armenian: գոլ (hy) (gol)
• Basque: gol (eu)
• Belarusian: гол m (hol)
• Bulgarian: гол (bg) m (gol)
• Catalan: gol (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 進球得分／进球得分 (jìnqiú défēn)

• Czech: gól (cs) m, branka (cs) f
• Danish: mål (da)
• Dutch: punt (nl) n, doelpunt (nl) n
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: värav
• Faroese: mál (fo) n
• Finnish: maali (fi)
• French: but (marqué) m
• Georgian: გოლი (goli)
• German: Tor (de) n
• Greek: πόντος (el) m (póntos)
• Hebrew: שער (he) (sha'ar)
• Hungarian: gól (hu)
• Icelandic: mark (is) n
• Irish: cúl m, báire m
• Italian: gol (it) m, rete (it) f, goal (it) m
• Japanese: ゴール (ja) (gōru)
• Khmer: ពិន្ទុ (km) (pɨntuʼ)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گۆڵ (goll)

• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: kōrā
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mål (no) n

• Polish: gol (pl) m
• Portuguese: (Brazil) gol (pt) m, (Portugal) golo (pt) m
• Romanian: gol (ro) n
• Russian: гол (ru) m (gol)
• Scottish Gaelic: tadhal m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: го̑л m, по̀годак m, згоди́так m

  Roman: gȏl (sh) m, pògodak (sh) m, zgodítak (sh) m

• Slovak: gól (sk) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wrota pl

• Spanish: gol (es) m
• Swahili: bao (sw)
• Swedish: mål (sv) n
• Thai: แต้ม (th) (dtɛ̂ɛm)
• Turkish: gol (tr)
• Ukrainian: гол (uk) m (hol)
• Vietnamese: ghi điểm, ghi bàn, bàn thắng

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Persian: ^{(please verify)} گل زدن (gol zadan)

Verb

goal (third-person singular simple present goals, present participle goaling, simple past and past participle goaled)

1. (Gaelic football, Australian rules football) To score a goal.

Translations

to score a goal

• Arabic: سَجَّلَ هَدَفًا (sajjala hadafan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 進球／进球 (zh) (jìnqiú)

• French: marquer un but
• German: ein Tor schießen
• Icelandic: skora mark, skora
• Japanese: ゴールを決める (ゴールをきめる, gōru o kimeru)
• Korean: 골을 넣다 (goreul neota)
• Persian: گل کردن (fa) (gol kardan)
• Russian: забива́ть гол impf (zabivátʹ gol), заби́ть гол pf (zabítʹ gol)

Anagrams

• Galo, Gola, Lago, Olga, algo, algo-, gaol

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowing from English goal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡoːl/, [ɡoːl]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: goal

Noun

goal m (plural goals, diminutive goaltje n)

1. goal, target in sports, especially soccer
2. a hit in it, a point scored

Synonyms

• (target): doel n
• (hit): doelpunt n

Derived terms

• goalpaal

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English goal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡol/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

goal m (plural goals)

1. goalkeeper especially in soccer and polo

   Synonyms: gardien de but, gardien m, portier m

2. (rare) target in those sports

   Synonym: but m

Further reading

• “goal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• algo

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English goal.

Noun

goal m (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of gol

Anagrams

• algo-, gola, lago

Manx

Etymology

From Middle Irish gall (“foreigner”), from Latin Gallus.

Noun

goal m (genitive singular goal, plural goallyn or goaldee)

1. Scottish lowlander
2. foreigner

Related terms

• Goal

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
goal	ghoal	ngoal
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.