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competitor

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word competitor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
116–27 BC, Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (petō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin peto
Latin expeto
Latin petitor
Latin competitor
Latin oppeto
Latin suppeto
Latin suppetiae

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔm.pɛˈtiː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kom.peˈtiː.tor][1]

Forms

competītor m (genitive competītōris, feminine competītrīx); third declension[1] It is also spelled conpetītor.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + petītor (“candidate, seeker”).[2] petītor comes from petō (“to seek”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *pet-e/o-, explaining its sense as a shift from flying to flying towards, making for; he compares Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai, “to fly”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Varro and Cicero, among prose writers.[4][5] The OLD cites Varro for a fellow candidate.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a fellow candidate or rival for an office, in Cicero, Livy, Quintilian and Suetonius.[2][6] Valerius Maximus uses it of rival claimants awaiting the favour of fortune, and Gellius of rival bidders at a sale.[2] Niermeyer records the medieval sense claimant, and Wiktionary plaintiff.[7][1] English competitor comes from it, perhaps through French, from the 1530s.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of a fellow candidate.[2][4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of rival candidates.[6][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius of rival bidders.[2][5]
  • 1530s – English competitor.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A fellow candidate, rival, competitor.[2][6][1]
  2. A rival claimant; a rival bidder.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A claimant, plaintiff.[7][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Competitor.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/competitor. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·