defeat English · revision 4686

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=la-med disfacere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɪˈfiːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|defeten]], [[bor|xno|defeter]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Old French desfait, deffait, the past participle of desfaire “to undo, destroy”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-med|disfacere|t=to undo]],^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) Vulgar Latin *diffacere,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Latin dis- “un-, not” and facere “to do, make”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|alt=*dhe-|t=to set, put]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[defect]], [[feat]] and [[fact]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To destroy the strength or vitality of, to cause to languish: about 1374 in the OED;^(OED 1989) about 1380 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's Boethius, as “to overcome”;^(Barnhart 1988) “to overcome with sorrow or anger” in the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Its early senses were “to undo, destroy, annul”.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To ruin or destroy is from the early 15th century (now obsolete),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and to frustrate or bring a plan to nothing from 1474.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In law, to annul is from 1525.^(OED 1989) To cheat someone out of something expected is from the 1530s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and to beat in a contest of any kind from the 1560s.^(Etymonline) The noun first meant an undoing or ruin (1599, in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Henry V),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and a defeat in battle is from 1600, the usual term from about 1650.^(OED 1989) Of other contests, such as a government's defeat in parliament, it is from 1697.^(OED 1989) ''Defeatism'' and ''defeatist'' are from 1918, from French, first applied to the Russians.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – to waste, weaken.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – to ruin.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1474 – to frustrate.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1525 – to annul.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1560s – to beat in a contest.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1599 – noun, undoing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1600 – noun, defeat in battle.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1918 – ''defeatism''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To win a victory over an enemy or opponent; to [[beat]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To stop something from succeeding: ''defeat the purpose''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To be too difficult for someone to understand.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law)'' To make void or [[annul]].^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Failure to win, or the act of being beaten.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The act of defeating an opponent or a proposal.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[defeater]]

+ * [[defeatable]]

+ * [[redefeat]]

+ * [[undefeatable]]

+ * [[self-defeating]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[defeasance]]

+ * [[defeasible]]

+ * [[defeatism]]

+ * [[defeatist]]

+ * [[defeature]]

+ * [[defect]]

+ * [[feat]]

+ * [[fact]]

+ * [[feature]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Defeat is the most general word for getting the better of an opponent; conquer adds the idea of lasting control, vanquish suggests a complete defeat, and rout a defeat followed by flight.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}