Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “compete” come from?

Compete comes from Middle French competer, from Latin competere, meaning to seek together, from con- and petere, meaning to seek.

compete (English): To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for...

Definitions

  1. To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for...

Ancestry of “compete”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchcompeter—
2Latincompeteresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
3Latincompetocome together, meet; agree, coincide in point of...
4Latincom-allomorph of con-
5Latincon-Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing...
6Latincumwith, along with; at; -fold
7Old LatincomAlternative form of cum
8Proto-Italickomwith, along, at
9Proto-Indo-Europeanḱómbeside, near, by, with
10Proto-Indo-EuropeanḱeDeictic particle, here; Post-positional...
11Middle Englishkyt—
12Germankitt—
13Old High Germankuti—
14Proto-West Germanickwidugum, resin
15Proto-Germanickweduzresin
16Proto-Indo-Europeangʷet-resin, gum; to say, speak
17Proto-Indo-Europeangū-to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...

Words derived from “compete”

  • competitive
  • competing
  • competitiveness
  • anticompetitive
  • competitively
  • noncompetitive
  • uncompetitive
  • noncompete
  • procompetitive
  • outcompete
  • hypercompetitive
  • noncompeting
  • precompetitive
  • noncompetitively
  • anticompetitively
  • ultracompetitive
  • competitivity
  • uncompetitiveness
  • supercompetitive
  • noncompetitiveness
  • anticompetitiveness
  • hypercompetitiveness
  • overcompetitive
  • semicompetitive
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gū- →