Etymograph

English

target

Target comes from Middle French targe ‘light shield’, and goes back to Frankish *targa ‘buckler’.

  1. Frankishc. 250–700*targa1‘buckler’reconstructed
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600targe1‘light shield’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600targette1diminutive of targe
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597target1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English target
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at…”.

Lineage

  1. Frankishc. 250–700*targaWiktionary, English target‘buckler’reconstructed
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600targeWiktionary, English target‘light shield’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600targetteWiktionary, English targetdiminutive of targe
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597targetWiktionary, English target. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at…”

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Today it means

noun A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “target”. 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 / Frankish *targa / target