Etymograph

English

compete

Compete is borrowed from Middle French competer, from Latin competō ‘to coincide, be capable of’, from com- + petō ‘to seek’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetō1‘to seek, strive for’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompetō1‘to coincide, be capable of’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600competer1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1909compete1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English compete
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1909, Cup for Amateurs:: “The idea behind Sir Montagu's gift is that there…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetōWiktionary, English compete‘to seek, strive for’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompetōWiktionary, English compete‘to coincide, be capable of’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600competerWiktionary, English compete
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1909competeWiktionary, English compete. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1909, Cup for Amateurs:: “The idea behind Sir Montagu's gift is that there…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with compete, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to fly’

  • pass ← passen ← passer ← *passāre ← passus
  • mile ← myle ← mīl ← *mīliju ← mīlia
  • expansion ← expānsiō ← expandō ← pandō ← *pandō
  • expand ← espaundre ← expandō ← pandō ← *pandō
  • pen ← penne ← penne ← penne ← penna
  • patent ← patēns ← pateō ← *patēō ← *pandō
  • helicopter ← hélicoptère ← πτερόν ← *pterón ← *péth₂r̥
  • feather ← fethere ← feþer ← *feþru ← *feþrō
  • spawn ← spawnen ← espaundre ← espandre ← expandō
  • symptom ← sinthoma ← sinthoma ← symptoma ← σύμπτωμα
  • expanse ← expansum ← expandō ← pandō ← *pandō
  • pennant ← penon ← penna ← *petnā ← *péth₂r̥ ~ pth₂én-

129 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “compete”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin petō / compete