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compete

kuhm-PEET · verb

LatinMiddle FrenchEnglish

Origin

Compete comes from Middle French competer, from Latin competere, meaning "to coincide, to be equal to, to be capable of." That Latin verb combines com- ("with") and petō ("to seek, to aim for, strive for").

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Related words

Latin also gives us competītor, the direct ancestor of "competitor," built from the same competere root.

More words

From Middle French

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