tournament

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈtʊə.nə.mənt/, US /ˈtɝː.nə.mənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English turnement, tornement,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman turnement, tornement, variants of Old French torneiement,^[4][5][3] from torneier “to joust, tilt, take part in tournaments”,^[6][2][3] the source of tourney,^[2][6] and the suffix -ment.^[2][3] The later English spellings were probably influenced by Medieval Latin tornamentum.^[2] It is related to turn.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in the Ancrene Riwle, of a medieval contest between groups of knights on horseback;^[2] about 1200 in Etymonline, figuratively of a spiritual contest.^[6] The literal martial sport: about 1300 in Etymonline, 1297 in the OED.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

In a tournament several combatants on each side fought at once, as charges of equal troops of cavalry, while a joust was a duel between two.^[6] The word was applied to the Olympic and other ancient games from 1387,^[8] and to modern imitations of the medieval pastime from 1701.^[8] Later it was used of a contest of skill on horseback in running a spear through rings hung up while riding past at full speed.^[6] A contest in any game of skill, in which many competitors play a series of games, is from 1761, as in a chess or tennis tournament.^[2][6][8] In mathematics, a set of points each joined to every other by a directed line is a tournament from 1959.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – first recorded, of a spiritual contest.^[2][6]
• 1297 – a contest of knights.^[8]
• 1387 – the ancient games.^[8]
• 1638 – figuratively, a trial of strength.^[8]
• 1761 – a contest in any game.^[2][8]
• 1959 – in mathematics.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A series of contests among many players or teams, the overall winner being the one who prevails in the final round or has the best record.
2. (history) A medieval martial sport in which two groups of mounted, armoured knights fought with blunted weapons.
3. A modern display imitating a medieval tournament.

Word family

• pretournament

Related words

• tourney
• turn
• tour

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press