sport English · revision 3706

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=c. 1400|origins=la portō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /spɔːt/, US /spɔːrt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sporte]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a shortening of [[m|enm|disport|t=pastime, amusement]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|xno|disport]], from Old French desport “pleasure, recreation”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|fro|desporter|t=to divert, amuse, please]], literally “to carry away” the mind from serious matters,^(Etymonline) from [[m|fro|des-|t=away]] and [[m|fro|porter|t=to carry]],^(Etymonline) from [[la|portāre|t=to carry]].^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) It is related to [[disport]] and to [[port#3]], “bearing”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Pleasant pastime, amusement: the verb about 1400, “to take pleasure, amuse oneself”,^(Etymonline) and the noun about 1400 in Barnhart^(Barnhart 1988) and the early 15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED's first example is from about 1440.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Sport meant any kind of entertainment, and only came to mean physical activities with rules at the end of the Middle Ages, more formal games following in the 18th century.^(Cresswell 2021) Amusing oneself by active exercise in the open air is from the late 15th century,^(Etymonline) and a game involving physical exercise from the 1520s,^(Etymonline) or 1523 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) Hunting and taking game is from 1653.^(OED 1989) In the 16th and 17th centuries it could also mean love-making.^(Etymonline) ''In sport'', “in jest”, is from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) The ''sport of kings'' (1660s) first meant war-making, later hunting and horse racing.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Of persons it meant a laughing-stock from the 1690s,^(Etymonline) a gambler on races by 1861,^(Etymonline) and a lively, good fellow from 1881, as in ''be a sport'' by 1913.^(Etymonline) The verb “to display, show off” is from 1712, “to wear” from 1778.^(Etymonline) A ''sport of nature'' (1635), translating Latin lūsus nātūrae, was shortened in biology to ''sport'', a spontaneous mutation, in 1842.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1303 – ''disport''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – a pastime.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1523 – a game involving exercise.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1653 – hunting.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1660s – ''sport of kings''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1712 – verb, to show off.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1842 – a mutation.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1861 – a gambler.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1881 – a good fellow.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[athletics|alt=athletic]] activity governed by rules, often played competitively.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An active pastime; [[recreation]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Jest; fun: ''in sport''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An object of mockery: ''the sport of fortune''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person who takes defeat or teasing well.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In biology, an organism showing a marked [[mutation]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To wear or display proudly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To play or frolic.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To [[mutate]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sportful]]

+ * [[sportfully]]

+ * [[sportfulness]]

+ * [[sportless]]

+ * [[unsported]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[disport]]

+ * [[port]]

+ * [[deport]]

+ * [[sportsman]]

+ * [[sporty]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}