compete
pronunciation
How to pronounce compete in British English:
UK [kəmˈpiːt]
How to pronounce compete in American English:
US [kəmˈpiːt]
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- Verb:
- compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
Word Origin
- compete
- compete: [17] Compete comes from Latin competere. This was a compound verb formed from com- ‘together’ and petere ‘seek, strive’ (source of English petition, appetite, impetus, and repeat). At first this meant ‘come together, agree, be fit or suitable’, and the last of these meanings was taken up in the present participial adjective competēns, source of English competent [14]. In later Latin, however, competere developed the sense ‘strive together’, and this formed the basis of English compete.=> appetite, competent, impetus, petition, repeat
- compete (v.)
- 1610s, " to enter or be put in rivalry with," from Middle French compéter "be in rivalry with" (14c.), or directly from Late Latin competere "strive in common," in classical Latin "to come together, agree, to be qualified," later, "strive together," from com- "together" (see com-) + petere "to strive, seek, fall upon, rush at, attack" (see petition (n.)). 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. Related: Competed; competing.
Example
- 1. We have to compete on service .
- 2. Two men compete at the world fencing championships in antalya , turkey .
- 3. Threadless encourages people to compete to design t-shirts .
- 4. As chipmakers compete to develop ever-smaller chips at cheaper prices , designers are struggling to cut costs .
- 5. The firm has designed innovative tablet computers that could compete with apple 's ipad .