objective
Meaning
(of a person or their judgment) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.
relating to or denoting a case of nouns and pronouns used as the object of a transitive verb or a preposition.
a thing aimed at or sought; a goal.
the objective case.
Structure
Usage
The journalist strove to maintain an objective tone in her reporting.
Our primary objective is to increase customer satisfaction.
In the sentence 'She helped him,' the pronoun 'him' is in the objective case.
Etymology
The word 'objective' originates from the Medieval Latin term objectivus, which itself is derived from the Latin verb obicere, meaning "to throw or put before". The core root is jacere (to throw), combined with the prefix ob- (toward). The literal sense of "something thrown before the mind" evolved philosophically to denote a concept existing independently of the mind. This philosophical meaning of an external, impartial reality gave rise to the modern senses of an unbiased viewpoint and a tangible goal to be aimed for, metaphorically "thrown" in front of oneself as a target.
Analysis
- ob: Latin prefix meaning "against, toward, in the way of". - ject: From Latin jacere (to throw), a root present in the English spelling of words like 'project', 'reject'. - ive: A suffix of Latin origin forming adjectives meaning "of the nature of" or "tending to", which can also function as a noun.