Aimed

How to spell aimed

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce aimed

What does aimed mean?

1. verbDirected or pointed something toward a particular target, or set out to achieve a particular goal.

Aimed in a sentence

• The new policy aimed to cut household bills by a fifth.

• She aimed the camera carefully before the fireworks began.

Where does aimed come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the past tense of the verb 'aim', which entered English in the 1300s from Old French. The Old French verbs 'esmer' and 'aesmer' meant 'to estimate, reckon, or calculate', and they descend from the Latin 'aestimare', meaning 'to value, appraise, or assess'. A separate Latin source, 'adaestimare' (to reckon up), also fed into the word, blending senses of judging distance and directing effort toward a target. From the idea of estimating where a weapon should point, English developed the familiar sense of pointing or directing something at a goal. The same Latin root behind 'aestimare' also gives us 'estimate' and 'esteem', a useful reminder that aiming originally meant carefully judging or reckoning rather than simply firing.

How the word is built

• aim (from Old French esmer/aesmer: to estimate, direct)
• -ed (past tense suffix)