The bullseye or bull's eye has, since 1833, been the name for the center of a

target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

and, by extension, since 1857, has been given to any throw, toss, or shot that hits the center.

Etymology

The term "bullseye" had been used since the Middle Ages to describe a hole, in particular where the breadth and thickness of the object was much larger than the hole. In this sense, it was commonly used to describe the

pontil mark A pontil mark or punt mark is the scar where the pontil, punty or punt was broken from a work of blown glass. The presence of such a scar indicates that a glass bottle or bowl was blown freehand, while the absence of a punt mark suggests either ...

on medieval crown-glass windows, where a blob (bullion, from the French ''boule'') of molten glass was attached to a pole and spun rapidly to flatten it out into a large disk, from which windows were cut. The center was much thicker, with a small divot where the pole was attached, and this was referred to as the bullseye. The bullseye was too dense for making windows but often used for making crown-glass lenses or

deck prism A deck prism, or bullseye, is a prism (optics), prism inserted into the deck of a ship to provide light down below. For centuries, sailing ships used deck prisms to provide a safe source of natural sunlight to illuminate areas below deck (ship), ...

s in ships to let in light to the hold below deck, and these were also called bullseyes. By extension, police lanterns with lenses for focusing light into a spot became known as bullseyes. This thick glass was also called the crown, and the term bullseye became a slang term to refer to the British

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

coin. Its use to describe the center of a target was first recorded in 1833, according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', or possibly as early as 1813, according to other sources.

Sports

Archery

In some archery traditions, the term "gold" is used in preference to "bullseye". In

target archery Target archery is the most popular form of archery, in which members shoot at stationary circular targets at varying distances. All types of bow – longbow, barebow, Recurve bow, recurve and Compound bow, compound – can be used. In Great Brita ...

, hitting the center ring of an international target is worth 10 points, or 9 points if it's an Imperial target.

''Kyūdō''

In Japanese archery, known as

Kyūdō ''Kyūdō'' () is the Japanese martial art of archery. Kyūdō is based on ''kyūjutsu'' ("art of archery"), which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. In 1919, the name of kyūjutsu was officially changed to kyūdō, and following ...

, the bullseye is called "zuboshi". The term is also used as idiomatic slang just as it is in English, to note that someone has done or said something that hits "right on the nose."

Darts

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

, the bullseye is located 5 foot 8 inches (1.73m) above the floor. Before the start of a match, players will usually throw closest to the bullseye to decide who has the advantage of throwing first. An inner bullseye (sometimes called a "double bullseye" in amateur play) is a smaller inner circle and counts for 50 points, while an outer bull is worth 25 points. In the World Grand Prix, which has a double start format, an inner bullseye can begin a leg. In the

dart golf Dart golf games are games in which darts are thrown at traditional dart boards or dart boards that resemble golf courses with colored areas that represent a golf course. Dart golf games use golf-like rules and scoring. Rules and board configurati ...

game, the bullseye is part of a three-part tiebreaker that includes the treble twenty. Hitting three bullseyes in darts is known as the "

Alan Evans David Alan Evans (14 June 1949 – 12 April 1999) was a Welsh professional darts player and former World No. 1 who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Evans was one of the early faces of television darts and had some tournament success in the 1 ...

shot".

References