# goal

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡəʊl/ · frequency rank #925

## Definitions
1. A result that one is attempting to achieve.
2. In many sports, an area into which the players attempt to put an object.
3. The act of placing the object into the goal.
4. A point scored in a game as a result of placing the object into the goal.
5. A noun or noun phrase that receives the action of a verb. The subject of a passive verb or the direct object of an active verb. Also called a patient, target, or undergoer.

## Etymology
From Middle English gol (“boundary, limit”), from Old English *gāl (“obstacle, barrier, marker”), from Proto-West Germanic *gailu, from Proto-Germanic *gailō (“crevice, gap”); compare the Old English's derivatives Old English gǣlan (“to hinder, delay”), and hyġegǣls (“hesitating, slow, sluggish”), hyġegǣlsa (“slow one, sluggish one”).
Possibly cognate with Lithuanian gãlas (“end”), Latvian gals (“end”), Old Prussian gallan (“death”), Albanian ngalem (“to be limping, lame, paralyzed”), ngel (“to remain, linger, hesitate, get stuck”).

## Easily confused with
- **got** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-got)
- **god** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-god)
- **GOP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gop)
- **GTA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gta)
- **GPA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gpa)
- **goo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-goo)
- **GSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gsa)
- **gul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gul)
- **GOL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gol)
- **gob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gob)
- **gow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gow)
- **gor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gor)
- **GoH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-goh)
- **gog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gog)
- **good** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-good)
- **goes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-goes)
- **gold** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gold)
- **gone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-gone)
- **golf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-golf)
- **grab** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goal-vs-grab)

## Common misspellings (4)
`ggoal`, `goall`, `gola`, `ogal`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/goal