{
  "id": "goal.purpose",
  "term": "goal",
  "sense": "purpose",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 6,
  "arena": "goal",
  "domain": "general everyday sense",
  "style": null,
  "definition": "a needed state that differs from a state",
  "folk_gloss": null,
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "state.condition",
      "difference.relation",
      "need.psychological",
      "work.effort"
    ],
    "interaction": "need and work to a state that differs from a state together be the goal",
    "novel_properties": [
      "future orientation",
      "motivated directionality"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The International Space Station maintains orbital altitude by periodic reboosts to counter atmospheric drag.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "A beehive regulates internal temperature near 35°C despite external swings, consuming honey stores to heat or cool.",
      "domain": "biology"
    },
    {
      "text": "The Federal Reserve targets 2% annual inflation, adjusting interest rates to close the gap from current measures.",
      "domain": "economics"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [
    "competition.social",
    "design.plan",
    "equipment.tool",
    "game.playful",
    "management.administrative",
    "plan.strategic",
    "project.plan",
    "purpose.goal",
    "sports.activity",
    "team.social"
  ],
  "forms": [
    "goal",
    "goaled",
    "goaling",
    "goals"
  ],
  "closed": true,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "openrouter:openai/gpt-oss-120b",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.6
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-goal.purpose"
}