competitor English · revision 39458

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1533, Lord Berners, translation of Guevara's Golden Book|origins=la petō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|compétiteur]] or its source [[la|competītor|t=fellow candidate, rival]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) an agent noun formed on [[m|la|competītus]], the past participle of [[m|la|competō|t=to strive for together, compete for]],^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026) from [[m|la|com-|t=with]] and [[m|la|petītor|t=seeker, candidate]], from [[m|la|petō|t=to seek]].^(Skeat 1911)^(Dictionary.com 2016) The OED points out that the stress on the second syllable shows the word came through French; from Latin it would have been stressed on the third or first.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who seeks something in rivalry with others, a rival: a1533, in Lord Berners's translation of Guevara's ''Golden Book of Marcus Aurelius''.^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster gives 1534,^(MWU 2024) Etymonline the 1530s,^(Etymonline) and Dictionary.com 1525–35.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For a time the word could also mean an associate who shares the same aim, a partner (1579–1681), a sense now obsolete.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) From the 1650s it was used of one placed in a contest.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) defined it as one with a claim opposed to another's, a rival.^(Johnson 1755) Modern dictionaries add the commercial rival, a business selling the same goods,^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) and in biology an organism competing with another for resources.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1533 – a rival.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1579 – an associate or partner (obsolete by 1681).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1656 – one placed in competition.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person, team or other contestant that [[compete|alt=competes]], for example in a race or [[contest]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A [[rival]]; especially a business that sells the same kind of goods or services as another.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (biology) An organism that competes with another for the same resources.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[competitorship]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[compete]]

+ * [[competition]]

+ * [[competitive]]

+ * [[petition]]

+ * [[appetite]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}