challenge

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtʃæl.ɪndʒ/^[1]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English chalengen, calengen “to accuse, claim”,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French chalengier, chalongier, Old North French calengier,^[4][2][3] from Latin calumniārī (“to accuse falsely, slander”),^[4][2] from calumnia (“trickery, false accusation”),^[4][2] the source of calumny.^[2][5] The noun is Old French chalenge, from the same Latin calumnia.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, “to rebuke”: about 1200,^[4] probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2] The noun, an accusation, a charge or reproach, is from before 1300,^[7] and probably before 1325 in Barnhart.^[2] The word was first recorded in the senses “accusation” and “to accuse”.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant “to object to” from the late 13th century and “to accuse”, especially falsely, about 1300;^[4] Middle English also used it for “to lay claim to”.^[4][2] The sense “to call to fight” is from the late 14th century (about 1380, in Sir Ferumbras),^[4][2] and “to call in question, dispute” from about 1395, in Chaucer.^[2] The noun likewise meant a claim, often a false one, from about 1314,^[7] and an invitation to a contest from about 1325.^[7] The accusatory connotations faded in the 17th century.^[4] The sentry's demand for the password is from 1375,^[7] a summons to a duel from 1530,^[7] and in law an objection to a juror from the mid-15th century.^[4][6] The weakened sense “a difficult task, a test of one's abilities” is from 1954.^[7][4]

Timeline

• before 1200 – verb, to rebuke.^[2]
• before 1300 – noun, an accusation.^[7]
• c. 1314 – noun, a claim.^[7]
• c. 1325 – noun, an invitation to a contest.^[7]
• c. 1380 – verb, to challenge to combat.^[2]
• 1375 – a sentry's challenge.^[7]
• c. 1395 – verb, to call in question.^[2]
• 1530 – a summons to a duel.^[7]
• 1954 – a demanding task.^[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A call to take part in a contest, fight or competition.
2. A demand for an explanation; a calling into question.
3. A difficult task that tests one's ability.
4. A sentry's demand that someone identify himself.
5. (law) A formal objection, especially to a juror.

Verb

1. To call to a contest or fight; to dare.
2. To question or dispute; to take exception to.
3. To order to halt and be identified.
4. To test the abilities of; to stimulate.
5. To object formally to a juror.

Word family

• challengeable
• challenger
• challenged
• prechallenge
• rechallenge
• unchallengeable
• unchallenged
• peremptory challenge

Related words

• challenging
• calumny
• calumniate

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press