object

Etymology

From Old French object, from Medieval Latin obiectum (“object”, literally “thrown against”), from obiectus, perfect passive participle of obiciō (“I throw against”), from ob- (“against”) + iaciō (“I throw”), as a calque of Ancient Greek ἀντικείμενον (antikeímenon). Doublet of objet.

noun

1. A thing that has physical existence but is not alive.
2. Objective; goal, end or purpose of something.
   Money is an Object to you? Money is an Object to me. And yet you have taken no Steps to recover your Property from Mr. Dry? No, I have no Occasion for it. 1825, Accounts and Papers, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, page 91
   And yet it may be proper to show that if time were an object, little, if any thing, would necessarily be gained by sprinkling in place of immersion, where a large number had to be baptized. 1860, Thomas Fenner Curtis, The Progress of Baptist Principles in the Last Hundred Years, page 161
   […] to secure first-class men you must either hold out a temptation of money, if money is an object to them, or if it is not, then after a certain number of years' service, perhaps, some honour to be bestowed upon them; one or the other, I think, ought to be given to secure the best men that you can. 1863, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Reports from Committees, page 240
   I think, if a captain had plenty of time to spare, and was not going on to any other port, he would prefer going into harbor; but if time were an object with him, and he wished to get away as quickly as possible, he would go to the pier outside. 1877, South Australia. Parliament, Proceedings of the Parliament of South Australia: With Copies of Documents Ordered to be Printed ..., page 29
   2000, Phyllis Barkas Goldman & John Grigni, Monkeyshines on Ancient Cultures The object of tlachtli was to keep the rubber ball from touching the ground while trying to push it to the opponent's endline.
3. (grammar) The noun phrase which is an internal complement of a verb phrase or a prepositional phrase. In a verb phrase with a transitive action verb, it is typically the receiver of the action.
4. A person or thing toward which an emotion is directed.
   Mary Jane had been the object of Peter's affection for years.
   The convertible, once the object of his desire, was now the object of his hatred.
   Where's your object of ridicule now?
5. (object-oriented programming) An instantiation of a class or structure.
6. (category theory) An instance of one of the two kinds of entities that form a category, the other kind being the arrows (also called morphisms).
   Similarly, there is a category whose objects are groups and whose arrows are the homomorphisms from one group to another.
7. (obsolete) Sight; show; appearance; aspect.
   c. 1610s, George Chapman, Batrachomyomachia He, advancing close / Up to the lake, past all the rest, arose / In glorious object.

verb

1. (intransitive) To disagree with or oppose something or someone; (especially in a Court of Law) to raise an objection.
   I object to the proposal to build a new airport terminal.
   We strongly object to sending her to jail for ten years.
   “It’s only a few minutes from Nankang to Hsichih, my friends. Kindly make room for the lady,” the driver was all unctuous smiles, and spoke as though nobody was going to object after he had given the word. 1975, Yao (孟瑤) Meng, “Homeward Bound”, in An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature: Taiwan, 1949-1974, volume 2, Taipei: China Printing, Ltd., →OCLC, page 33
2. (transitive, obsolete) To offer in opposition as a criminal charge or by way of accusation or reproach; to adduce as an objection or adverse reason.
   There are others who will object the poverty of the nation. 1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation
   The book […] giveth liberty to object any crime against any such as are to be ordered. 1571, John Whitgift, Admonition to the Parliament
3. (transitive, obsolete) To set before or against; to bring into opposition; to oppose.
   early 17th century, Edward Fairfax, Godfrey of Bulloigne: or The recovery of Jerusalem. Of less account some knight thereto object, / Whose loss so great and harmful can not prove.
   c. 1678, Richard Hooker, a sermon some strong impediment or other objecting itself