contend

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English contenden,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin contendō (“to stretch out; to strive; to fight, vie”), partly through Old French contendre.^{[4][2][5][3][6]} The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from 1160–74 for to strive, resist and fight.^[7] The Latin verb is formed from com-, here perhaps intensive, and tendō (“to stretch”),^[5][3][8][9] the source of tend, from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).^[5][8] From the same verb come contention and contentious.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To engage in rivalry, compete: about 1440, in a Middle English Palladius,^[2][3] and about 1450 of people disputing who should name a city.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the mid-15th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the verb gathered most of its modern senses: to strive earnestly (from 1518, obsolete after 1820), to fight (1529, in Thomas More), to argue (1539, in the Great Bible) and to maintain as a point of argument (1548).^[4][5] Shakespeare used it in Hamlet (1604) of the strife of natural forces,^[4] and in his Sonnets (1609) for pressing forward with effort.^[4] Johnson (1755) gave a transitive sense, to dispute or contest something, quoting Dryden,^[11] which the OED records only in 1697 and marks obsolete.^[4] The figurative contend with difficulties or feelings is recorded from 1783, in Crabbe.^[4] The noun contender dates from 1547.^[3] In Rutland dialect, to contend meant to get on together or agree.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – to compete, engage in rivalry.^[2][3]
• 1518 – to strive earnestly (obsolete by 1820).^[4]
• 1529 – to fight, engage in conflict.^[4]
• 1539 – to argue, dispute.^[4]
• 1547 – the noun contender.^[3]
• 1548 – to maintain or assert a point.^[4][5]
• 1589 – to compete with others for something.^[4]
• 1783 – to struggle with difficulties or feelings.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To struggle or compete with rivals; to vie: Four teams are contending for the title.^[13][14][4]
2. contend with: to have to deal with a difficulty or problem: Farmers had to contend with a long drought.^[14][4]
3. To argue or debate earnestly.^[13][4]
4. To assert or maintain as true: The lawyer contended that the contract was void.^[13][4]

Word family

• contender
• contendingly
• uncontended
• noncontending
• uncontending

Related words

• contention
• contentious
• tend
• intend
• extend
• distend
• tension

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster