Meaning

noun the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it

noun the place designated as the end (as of a race or journey)

noun game equipment consisting of the place toward which players of a game try to advance a ball or puck in order to score points

originFrom Middle English gol (“boundary, limit”), from Old English *gāl (“obstacle, barrier, marker”), from Proto-West Germanic *gailu, from Proto-Germanic *gailō (“crevice, gap”); compare the Old English's derivatives Old English gǣlan (“to hinder, delay”), and hyġegǣls (“hesitating, slow, sluggish”), hyġegǣlsa (“slow one, sluggish one”). Possibly cognate with Lithuanian gãlas (“end”), Latvian gals…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0