means A goal you aim to achieve, or—as an adjective—something based on facts rather than feelings or personal bias.

from From Latin 'obiectum,' meaning 'a thing thrown before' the mind—'ob-' (toward, against) plus 'iacere' (to throw). It entered late-medieval Latin as a philosophy term for whatever the mind perceives, the thing 'put before' your senses. The sense of a 'goal' and the sense of 'unbiased' grew from the same root idea: something existing out there, outside you, set in your path to be reached or reckoned with.