Etymology

compete

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Today it means: To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend. Full definition →

Middle French competer ← Latin competere
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcompetere“to coincide, to be equal to, to be capable of”
  2. Middle French · borrowed fromcompeter
  3. English todaycompete

Borrowed from Middle French competer, from Latin competere (“to coincide, to be equal to, to be capable of”), from com- (“with”) + petō (“to seek; to aim for, strive for”). Compare Latin competītor (“competitor”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.