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Origin and history of compete

compete(v.)

1610s, " to enter or be put in rivalry with," from French compéter "be in rivalry with" (14c.), or directly from Late Latin competere "strive in common, strive after something in company with or together," in classical Latin "to meet or come together; agree or coincide; to be qualified," from com "with, together" (see com-) + petere "to strive, seek, fall upon, rush at, attack" (from PIE root *pet- "to rush, to fly").

According to OED, rare 17c., revived from late 18c. in sense "to strive (alongside another) for the attainment of something" and regarded early 19c. in Britain as a Scottish or American word. Market sense is from 1840s (perhaps a back-formation from competition); athletics sense attested by 1857. Intransitive use is by 1974. Related: Competed; competing.

also from 1610s

Entries linking to compete

competence(n.)

1590s, "rivalry" (based on compete), also "adequate supply," both senses now obsolete; 1630s as "sufficiency of means for living at ease," from French compétence, from Latin competentia "meeting together, agreement, symmetry," from competens, present participle of competere, especially in its earlier sense of "fall together, come together, be convenient or fitting" (see compete).

Meaning "adequate range of capacity or ability, sufficiency to deal with what is at hand" is from 1790. Legal sense "capability or fitness to be heard in court" is from 1708.

competency(n.)

1590s, "sufficiency to satisfy the wants of life," from Latin competentia "meeting together, agreement, symmetry," from competens, present participle of competere (see compete). Meaning "sufficiency of qualification" is recorded from 1797.

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Trends of compete

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

competent
late 14c., "suitable, answering all requirements, sufficient, adequate," from Old French competent "sufficient, appropriate, suitable," and directly from Latin competentem (nominative competens), present participle of competere "coincide, agree" (see compete). It preserves the cl
competition
c. 1600, "action of seeking or endeavoring to gain what another is endeavoring to gain at the same time," from Late Latin competitionem (nominative competitio) "rivalry," in classical Latin "agreement," noun of action from past participle stem of competere (see compete). Meaning
vie
1560s, "to bet, make a bet," (literally "make a vie, the noun attested from 1530s in cards), especially in card-playing, "to wager the value of one's hand against an opponent's," shortened form of Middle English envie "make a challenge," from Old French envier "compete (against),
contend
mid-15c., "engage in rivalry, compete," from Old French contendre and directly from Latin contendere "to stretch out; to...
match
mid-14c., macchen, "be able to compete with, be an adequate opponent for;" late 14c., "to join one to another" (originally...
regatta
Grand Canal in Venice, from Italian (Venetian dialect) regatta, literally "contention for mastery," from rigattare "to compete...
coach
A more classical word for an athletic trainer was agonistarch, from Greek agonistarkhes "one who trains (someone) to compete...
touch
late 13c., "make deliberate physical contact with," from Old French tochier "to touch, hit, knock; mention, deal with" (11c., Modern French toucher), from Vulgar Latin *toccare "to knock, strike" as a bell (source also of Spanish tocar, Italian toccare), perhaps of imitative orig
couth
Middle English couth "known, well-known; usual, customary," from Old English cuðe "known," past participle of cunnan "to know," less commonly "to have power to, to be able" (see can (v.1)). As a past participle it died out 16c. with the emergence of could, but the old word was re
equal
late 14c., "identical in amount, extent, or portion;" early 15c., "even or smooth of surface," from Latin aequalis "uniform, identical, equal," from aequus "level, even, flat; as tall as, on a level with; friendly, kind, just, fair, equitable, impartial; proportionate; calm, tran

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