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objective

 - 6 dictionary results

ob⋅jec⋅tive

  [uhb-jek-tiv]
Use objective in a Sentence
–noun
1. something that one's efforts or actions are intended to attain or accomplish; purpose; goal; target: the objective of a military attack; the objective of a fund-raising drive.
2. Grammar.
a. Also called objective case. (in English and some other languages) a case specialized for the use of a form as the object of a transitive verb or of a preposition, as him in The boy hit him, or me in He comes to me with his troubles.
b. a word in that case.
3. Also called object glass, object lens, objective lens. Optics. (in a telescope, microscope, camera, or other optical system) the lens or combination of lenses that first receives the rays from the object and forms the image in the focal plane of the eyepiece, as in a microscope, or on a plate or screen, as in a camera.
–adjective
4. being the object or goal of one's efforts or actions.
5. not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion.
6. intent upon or dealing with things external to the mind rather than with thoughts or feelings, as a person or a book.
7. being the object of perception or thought; belonging to the object of thought rather than to the thinking subject (opposed to subjective ).
8. of or pertaining to something that can be known, or to something that is an object or a part of an object; existing independent of thought or an observer as part of reality.
9. Grammar.
a. pertaining to the use of a form as the object of a transitive verb or of a preposition.
b. (in English and some other languages) noting the objective case.
c. similar to such a case in meaning.
d. (in case grammar) pertaining to the semantic role of a noun phrase that denotes something undergoing a change of state or bearing a neutral relation to the verb, as the rock in The rock moved or in The child threw the rock.
10. being part of or pertaining to an object to be drawn: an objective plane.
11. Medicine/Medical. (of a symptom) discernible to others as well as the patient.
Origin:
1610–20; < ML objectīvus, equiv. to L object(us) (see object ) + -īvus -ive

Related forms:
ob⋅jec⋅tive⋅ly, adverb
ob⋅jec⋅tive⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. object, destination, aim. 5. impartial, fair, impersonal, disinterested.

Antonyms:
5. personal.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To objective
ob·jec·tive   (əb-jěk'tĭv)   
adj.  

  1. Of or having to do with a material object.

  2. Having actual existence or reality.

    1. Uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices: an objective critic. See Synonyms at fair1.

    2. Based on observable phenomena; presented factually: an objective appraisal.

    3. Of, relating to, or being the case of a noun or pronoun that serves as the object of a verb.

    4. Of or relating to a noun or pronoun used in this case.

  4. Medicine Indicating a symptom or condition perceived as a sign of disease by someone other than the person affected.

  5. Grammar

    1. Of, relating to, or being the case of a noun or pronoun that serves as the object of a verb.

    2. Of or relating to a noun or pronoun used in this case.

n.  

  1. Something that actually exists.

  2. Something worked toward or striven for; a goal. See Synonyms at intention.

  3. Grammar

    1. The objective case.

    2. A noun or pronoun in the objective case.

  4. The lens or lens system in a microscope or other optical instrument that first receives light rays from the object and forms the image. Also called object glass, objective lens, object lens.

ob·jec'tive·ly adv., ob·jec'tive·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

objective 
1620, originally in the philosophical sense of "considered in relation to its object" (opposite of subjective), formed on pattern of M.L. objectivus, from objectum "object" (see object (n.)). Meaning "impersonal, unbiased" is first found 1855, influenced by Ger. objektiv. The noun is 1738, with sense of "something objective to the mind;" meaning "goal, aim" is first as a military term from the U.S. War Between the States, 1864 (in objective point), from Fr.; general use of it is first attested 1881. Objectivism in philosophical sense of "the doctrine that knowledge is based on objective reality" is first attested 1854.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1ob·jec·tive
Pronunciation: &b-'jek-tiv, äb-
Function: adjective
1 : of, relating to, or being anobject, phenomenon, or condition in the realm of sensible experience independent of individual thought and perceptible by all observers <objective reality>
2 : perceptible to persons other than the affected individual objective symptom of disease> objective or subjective clinical improvement or both —Journal of theAmerican Medical Association> —compare SUBJECTIVE 2b —ob·jec·tive·ly adverb

Main Entry: 2objective
Function: noun
1 : a lens or system of lenses that forms an image of an object
2 : something toward whicheffort is directed
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

objective ob·jec·tive (əb-jěk'tĭv)
n.
The lens or lenses in the lower end of a microscope or other optical instrument that first receives light rays from the object being examined and forms its image. adj.

  1. Based on observable phenomena; presented factually.

  2. Indicating a symptom or condition perceived as a sign of disease by someone other than the person affected.

ob·jec'tive·ness n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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