telic

Adjective

telic (comparative more telic, superlative most telic)

1. Tending or directed towards a goal or specific end.
   • Several theorists of the previous chapters are supportive of this more telic view of human nature.1993, Brent D. Slife, Time and Psychological Explanation, page 226
   • They were asked to rate the 36 activities for how purposeful they were.[…]Comparing the 10 most telic and the 10 most paratelic we found that the paratelic leisure activities were thought to involve less skill or challenge; they were also judged to satisfy social needs more, and to be more...2001, Michael Argyle, The Psychology of Happiness, 2nd edition, page 129

   Antonyms:

   paratelic

2. That expresses an end or purpose.
   • In this framework, verbs denoting directed change of location, such as Italian andare 'go', instantiate Core Unaccusativity, in that they have a Theme subject and are the most telic, concrete, dynamic.1995, Michela Cennamo, Patterns of 'Active' Syntax in Late Latin Pleonastic Reflexives, John Charles Smith, Delia Bentley (editors), Historical Linguistics 1995: Selected Papers from the 12th...
   • Similarly, verb forms that can govern either transitive or middle-case marking (cf. 2.1.3.1.2(c)) are more telic in their transitive manifestations.2000, Niko Besnier, Tuvaluan: A Polynesian Language of the Central Pacific, published 2002, page 495

   Antonyms:

   atelic

3. That expresses the perfective aspect.