Categories: Ktzat Ivrit

In Hebrew: 'Goal'

By Ami Steinberger

|

January 9, 2013, 12 PM ET

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מַטָּרָה

When talking about soccer/football, the word goal when referring to scoring gets translated into Hebrew as גּוֹל

, while the area designated as the goal is called a שַׁעַר

- literally, gate. Likewise, a goalie is a שׁוֹעֵר

.But when speaking of a goal in a shooting range (a target), or in the abstract sense, the word is מַטָּרָה

. For example:

הוּא הִצִּיב לְעַצְמוֹ מַטָּרוֹת בְּרוּרוֹת לַשָּׁנָה הַקְּרוֹבָה. He set for himself clear goals for this coming year.

The root of the word מטרה is מ.ט.ר (note the dot in the ט in מַטָּרָה - it compensates for the missing נ), meaning watching over/keeping. A goal is therefore something that a person watches carefully, keeping their eyes on it. A synonym is יַעַד

, which also means destination. Visit Ktzat Ivrit.