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.
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