telos

[ tel-os, tee-los ]

noun

, plural te·loi [tel, -oi, tee, -loi].

1. the end term of a goal-directed process; especially, the Aristotelian final cause.

Word History and Origins

Origin of telos¹

1900–05; < Greek télos; tele- ²

Example Sentences

They call their creative process “convoluted” — they get captivated with the seed of an idea, and then hunt around for its telos.

From New York Times

They kept one foot in Taiwan and raised their son in Chinese-speaking communities, bequeathing to him the “telos of self-improvement baked into the immigrant experience.”

From Washington Post

The manager had to come over, and they were given a new server who didn’t care about the cash value or telos of a comic book.

From Literature

“In my experience,” he says, “a telos crisis comes in two forms, walking and sleeping.”

From The New Yorker

Diversity for its own sake, without a common telos, is infinitely centrifugal, and leads to social fragmentation.

From Seattle Times