Etymologically
Log in

challenge

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 16:46. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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
  • 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