Etymologically
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compete

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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

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