contest
pronunciation
How to pronounce contest in British English:
UK 
How to pronounce contest in American English:
US
Word Origin
- contest
- contest: [16] The idea underlying contest, unlikely as it may seem, is of ‘bearing witness’. It goes back to Latin contestārī, a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and testārī ‘bear witness’, which in turn was derived from testis ‘witness’ (whence English testament, testicle, and testimony). This verb signified the bringing of a lawsuit by ‘calling witnesses together’ from both sides.Hence was introduced the adversarial or competitive notion that passed into English, probably via Old French contester (although in the 16th and 17th centuries traces of the original Latin sense ‘bear joint witness, attest’ survived in English, presumably as a scholarly reintroduction).=> testament, testicle, testimony
- contest (v.)
- c. 1600, from French contester "dispute, oppose," from Middle French, from Latin contestari (litem) "to call to witness, bring action," from com- "together" (see com-) + testari "to bear witness," from testis "a witness," (see testament). Calling witnesses as the first step in a legal combat. Related: Contestable; contested; contesting.
- contest (n.)
- 1640s, from contest (v.).
Example
- 1. But life is not a hot dog eating contest .
- 2. This photo shows the contest 's homepage .
- 3. The chancellor is overwhelmingly the favourite to win any contest .
- 4. Most of these were submitted to the 2012 national geographic traveler photo contest .
- 5. Wishful thinking perhaps , but the contest is no longer quite so one-sided .