compete

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəmˈpiːt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French compéter (“to be in rivalry with”) or directly borrowed from Late Latin competere (“to strive together”),^[2][3] in classical Latin “to meet, coincide, be suitable”,^[2][3][4] from com- (“together”) and petere (“to seek, aim at”),^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *pet- (“to rush, fly”).^[2] Latin petere is also the source of competent, petition, impetus and repeat.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be in rivalry with, to vie: 1620.^[6][3][4]

Semantic evolution

It was rare in the 17th century and revived in the late 18th, from 1795 in the sense “to strive with others for something”.^[2][6][7] Striving for a market, in commerce, is from the 1840s, before 1844 in the OED;^[3][6] Barnhart suggests it may be a back-formation from competition, used in this sense from 1793.^[3] Taking part in a sports contest became common late in the 19th century.^[3] An earlier, unrelated verb compete, “to be suitable”, is recorded from 1541.^[6]

Timeline

• 1620 – to vie.^[6]
• 1795 – to strive with others.^[6]
• 1840s – in commerce.^[3]
• late 19th century – in sport.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To try to be more successful than others, or to win something that others also want.
2. To take part in a contest or race.
3. To be as good as others: our prices can't compete.

Word family

• competer
• competingly
• outcompete

Related words

• competition
• competitor
• competent
• competitive
• petition
• appetite

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press