English
defeat
Defeat comes from Middle English defeten, from defet ‘undone’, from Old French desfait, the participle of desfaire ‘to undo’.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400desfaire1‘to undo’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400desfait1‘undone, defeated’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500defet1‘disfigured; defect’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500defeten1‘to destroy, defeat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1664defeat1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English defeat
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1664, John Tillotson, Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.: “He finds himself naturally to dread a superior Being…”.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400desfaireWiktionary, English defeat‘to undo’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400desfaitWiktionary, English defeat‘undone, defeated’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500defetWiktionary, English defeat‘disfigured; defect’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500defetenWiktionary, English defeat‘to destroy, defeat’
- Englishearliest quotation 1664defeatWiktionary, English defeat. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1664, John Tillotson, Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.: “He finds himself naturally to dread a superior Being…”
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Another origin of defeat
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwóh₁‘two’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwís‘twice, doubly’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdeffet
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500defet
- Englishtodaydefeat
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Today it means
verb To overcome in battle or contest.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “defeat”. 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 / Old French desfaire / defeat