competition (English)

Where does "competition" come from?

The English noun 'competition' was borrowed from French 'compétition'[1], which in turn stems from the Late Latin noun 'competītiō'[1][3]. This noun derived from the Latin verb 'competō'[1][4], formed by combining the prefix 'con-', meaning 'with' or 'together', and 'petō', meaning 'to seek' or 'aim for'[2]. Ultimately, Latin 'petō' traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*peth₂-', meaning 'to fly'[5][6][7], through a reconstructed verb form '*péth₂eti'[5][6]. Over time, the concept evolved from 'flying towards' something into striving or seeking alongside others, eventually yielding the modern sense of a contest[1][5].

Open questions

• The semantic transition from the Proto-Indo-European sense of flying towards something to the Latin sense of trying to reach or seeking is an assumed shift rather than a directly attested one. [5]
• The earliest ancestral forms, such as Proto-Indo-European '*peth₂-' and '*péth₂eti', are hypothetical reconstructions that exist in several proposed variations. [5] [6] [7]

Full etymology tree

• competition (English), 'The action of competing.'
  • borrowed compétition (French), 'competition'
    • borrowed competitio (Latin), 'rivalry'
      • derived competo (Latin), 'to come together, meet'
        • prefix con- (Latin), 'Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects'
        • derived peto (Latin), 'to ask, beg, request, look for, inquire, petition, entreat'
          • inherited *péth₂eti (Proto-Indo-European), 'to fly'
            • derived *peth₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to spread out'
      • suffix -tio (Latin), '-tion, -ation, -ing; suffixed to verbs to form action nouns denoting a process, action, or result of an action.'

Ancestors

• compétition (French)
• competitio (Latin)
• competo (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

• anticompetition (English)
• competitional (English)
• competition-based learning (English)
• competition caution (English)
• competitioner (English)
• competitionless (English)
• competitionlike (English)
• competition wallah (English)
• contest competition (English)
• co-opetition (English)
• coopetition (English)
• hypercompetition (English)

Sources

1. competition (English) - Wiktionary
2. competo (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. compétition (French) - Wiktionary
4. competitio (Latin) - Wiktionary
5. peto (Latin) - Wiktionary
6. péth₂eti (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
7. peth₂- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris