Purpose (pronounced pur-puhs)
(1) The reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.
(2) An intended or desired result; end; aim; goal.
(3) Determination; resoluteness.
(4) The subject in hand; the point at issue.
(5) Practical result, effect, or advantage.
(6) To set as an aim, intention, or goal for oneself.
(7) To intend; design.
(8) To resolve to do something.
(9) To have a purpose.
1250-1300 (noun): The noun form with the meaning "intention, aim, goal" was from the Anglo-French & Middle English purpos from the twelfth century Old French porpos (aim, intention) from porposer (to put forth), the construct being por- (forth) (from the Latin pro- (forth) + the Old French poser (to put, place). The phrase “on purpose” dates from the 1580s. The verb followed soon, the first citations noted in the fourteenth century, from the Anglo-French purposer in the sense of "to design" and the Old French porposer (to intend, propose), a variant of proposer. It’s from the same root Latin gained prō (forth) + pono (hence propono & proponere with conjugation altered based on poser). Purpose is a noun & verb, purposer is a noun, purposeful & purposeless are adjectives, purposefully is an adverb, purposing is a verb and purposed is a verb & adjective; the noun plural is purposes.
Although the manually-cranked Gatling gun (1861) was the first practical rapid-fire (200 rounds-per-minute (rpm)) battlefield weapon, the fully automatic, water-cooled, Maxim machine gun (1884), with a fire-rate of 600 rpm, revolutionized war. By the end of the First World War, machine guns had been deployed by all sides, in some battles accounting for over ninety percent of the small-arms ammunition expended. The concept became entrenched in all branches of the military and a number of forks developed from the original design, each with their own set of special features depending on their application. Machine guns used by armies, navies and air-forces became increasingly specialized.
The General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) came later, originating in an innovative 1934 design by Germany’s Mauser which cleverly circumvented restrictions imposed by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Highly adaptable to all military applications, it could be deployed in a traditional infantry role, used either on aircraft or as an air defense weapon, mounted on anything from light vehicles to tanks and just about any warship. Development was accelerated by the demands of the Second World War, the GPMG an ideal product to which the techniques of mass-production and production-line standardization could helpfully be applied. Attaining a fire-rate of up to 1500 rpm, the WWII GPMGs represent a technological plateau and there’s been little change since, all the design elements of the 1940s still present in today’s weapons, innovations restricted mostly to improved materials and add-ons such as laser-assisted sighting. Like the shark and the pencil, the GPMG evolved to attain perfection and possible improvements to the design are not immediately obvious.
A GPMG is not simply any machine gun used for “general purposes” (and a definition of that in this context would be impossible exactly to codify) and in the military the GPMG is a specific class of weapon. A submachine gun (SMG) and a GPMG differ in design, purpose and application although there can be some overlap in the use of parts, tool kits and (less commonly), ammunition. The classic SMG is (in relative terms) light, compact and those appropriately trained can fire some of them using only one hand although most are fitted with a (sometimes foldable or detachable) shoulder to enhance stability. Many SMGs feature selective fire modes permitting a choice between a single shot, bursts (typically 3 shots) or fully automatic, continuous firing. SMGs with an effective maximum range between 100-150 m (300-500 feet) are intended for close-quarters combat (they were designed during World War I (1914-1918) and intended to be decisive in trench warfare but the conflict ended before they could be deployed) in which, with a higher rate of fire than a rifle and a longer range than most side arms, they can be ideal. Conveniently they often use the same ammunition as a sidearm although with a higher capacity.
The GPMG is larger, heavier and designed to sustain continuous fire for long periods. They are now almost always belt fed and use rifle-style & size cartridges, requiring a team of two or three effectively to operate. As “general purpose” suggests, GPMGs are highly mobile, versatile weapons which can be deployed in a range of combat situations including suppressing fire to sustain either attacks or withdrawals and can engage targets at medium range, something especially useful in theatres where the use of artillery would risk causalities from friendly fire. GPMG offer a high rate of fire and some Western forces in the late twentieth century concentrated on those using the 5.56 x 45mm NATO load because of the expectation the days of the set-piece, medium-range battle was a thing of the past but experience in recent conflicts confirmed the army’s need for heavier loads and many units were re-equipped with GPMGs using the 7.62 x 51mm NATO round, the latter with an effective range of 800-1220 m (2600-4000 feet) and thus suitable for any form of infantry support.
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