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PlainSpell

aim

/eɪm/noun, verb

aim is spelled A-I-M: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,941st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, aim means “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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of aim is aims.

How many letters and syllables are in aim?

Letters3: A-I-M
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing32 times per million words; the 2,941st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is aim?

Aim appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,941st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce aim?

  • /eɪm/

Aim has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-aim.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-aim.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with aim?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as aim.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: mia, mai, ami.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of aim

  • aims plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • aiming participle, present
  • aimed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does aim mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    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.

    to take aim

  2. 2

    The level of accuracy of a weapon.

    A rifle has more precise aim than a shotgun.

  3. 3

    The point intended to be hit, or object intended to be attained or affected.

  4. 4

    Intention or goal.

    My number one aim in life is to make money to make my parents, siblings, and kids happy.

  5. 5

    The ability of someone to aim straight; one’s faculty for being able to hit a physical target.

    The police officer has excellent aim, always hitting the bullseye in shooting practice.

  6. 6

    obsoleteConjecture; guess.

  7. 7

    Initialism of America Online AIM; AOL Instant Messenger.

verb

  1. 1

    To point or direct a missile, or a weapon which propels as missile, towards an object or spot with the intent of hitting it

    He aimed at the target, but the arrow flew straight over it.

  2. 2

    To direct the intention or purpose; to attempt the accomplishment of a purpose; to try to gain; to endeavor;–followed by at, or by an infinitive

    to aim at a pass

  3. 3

    To direct or point (e.g. a weapon), at a particular object; to direct, as a missile, an act, or a proceeding, at, to, or against an object

    to aim an arrow at the deer

  4. 4

    To direct (something verbal) towards a certain person, thing, or group

    to aim a satirical comment at Communists in general

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo guess or conjecture.

noun

as AIM
  1. 1

    USAcronym of air intercept missile.

verb

as AIM
  1. 1

    informalTo talk to (someone) via the instant messaging service AIM (AOL Instant Messenger; 1997–2017); to send (someone) a message via this service.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Aim in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchvisée, mire (pointing of a weapon towards a particular point…), cible (point intended to be hit), objectif, ambition, but (intention; purpose)
GermanZielen (pointing of a weapon towards a particular point…), Ziel, Zielscheibe, Schießscheibe (point intended to be hit), zielen (to point or direct a missile weapon)
Portuguesepontaria, mira (pointing of a weapon towards a particular point…), alvo (point intended to be hit), objetivo (intention; purpose), mirar, apontar (to point or direct a missile weapon)
Spanishpuntería, pajero (pointing of a weapon towards a particular point…), objetivo (point intended to be hit), intención, meta (intention; purpose), asestar (to point or direct a missile weapon)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does aim come from?

The verb is from Middle English amen, aimen, eimen (“to guess at, to estimate, to aim”), borrowed from Old French esmer, aesmer, asmer, from Latin ad- plus aestimare (“to estimate”), the compound perhaps being originally formed in Medieval Latin (adaestimare), perhaps in Old French. The noun is from Middle English ame, from Old French aesme, esme.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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