Etymograph

English

aim

Aim comes from Middle English aimen, from Old French esmer ‘to estimate, aim’, from Latin aestimō ‘to estimate’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaestimō1‘to estimate’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esmer1‘to estimate, aim’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aimen1‘to estimate, guess at, aim’
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1589–1593aim1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English aim
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1589–1593, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “But, good my lord, do it so cunningly /…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaestimōWiktionary, English aim‘to estimate’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esmerWiktionary, English aim‘to estimate, aim’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aimenWiktionary, English aim‘to estimate, guess at, aim’
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1589–1593aimWiktionary, English aim. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1589–1593, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “But, good my lord, do it so cunningly /…”

The story

The noun is from Middle English ame, from Old French aesme, esme.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with aim, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’

  • at ← æt

through Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’

  • appointee ← appointé ← appointer ← apointier ← appunctāre

through Latin ad ‘to, towards’

59 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The pointing of a weapon, as a gun, a dart, or an arrow, or object, in the line of direction with the object intended to be struck; the line of fire; the direction of anything, such as a spear, a blow, a discourse, a remark, towards a particular point or object, with a view to strike or affect it.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “aim”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin aestimō / aim