| 释义 |
▪ I. † compete, v.1 Obs. rare.
[a. F. compéter (14th c.), ad. L. competĕre in its earlier neuter sense, ‘to fall together, coincide, come together, be convenient or fitting, be due’, f. com- together + petĕre to fall upon, assail, aim at, make for, try to reach, strive after, sue for, solicit, ask, seek.
From the later active sense of competĕre we have compete v.2; the two senses are intermixed in the derivatives that follow, but competence, -ency, competent, competible, and their derivatives, belong in the main to this sense.]
intr. To be suitable, applicable, or ‘competent’.
1541R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., There ben thre maners [of lygatures or rollynges]. One is incarnatyue, and it competeth to newe woundes, and fractures.
▪ II. compete, v.2|kəmˈpiːt|
Also 7 compate.
[repr. L. compet-ĕre, in its post-classical active sense ‘to strive after (something) in company or together’, f. com- together + petĕre to aim at, go toward, try to reach, seek, etc.: see prec. No such sense is recognized by Littré for mod.F. compéter, but Cotgrave has ‘competer, to be sufficient for, sutable with, agreeable vnto; also, to belong or appertaine to’ (= prec. vb.); also, ‘to demaund, or sue for the same thing that another doth’ (which corresponds to this). Florio 1598 has It. competere ‘to contend or striue for any suite, office, place, or dignitie,’ [1611] ‘to contend or striue with another for maistrie’; Minsheu has Sp. compéter ‘to be meet for, to agree with’ (= prec.); ‘to sue with another for anything, to content or striue for any suit, office, or dignity’. The early related words in Eng. are competitor, competor; cf. also competence, competency, sense I. Though in occasional use in 17th c., this verb is not in Johnson, nor in Todd 1818, Seager 1819, Jodrell 1820; it is given by Richardson (without quotations) as ‘now not uncommon in speech’; by critics, in 1824, it was styled ‘a Scotticism’, and ‘an American discovery’.]
1. intr. To enter into or be put in rivalry with, to vie with another in any respect.
1620Bp. Hall Hon. Mar. Clergy xvii, The Church of England is blessed with a true clergy and glorious; and such a one as his Italian generation..shall never presume to compete with, in worthinesse and honour. 1659Hammond On Ps. cxxxix. 15. Annot. 677 No embroidery or carpet-work in the world can compate with it. 1755Guthrie's Trial 121 (Jam.) Also the man here giveth up with other lovers; as they compete with Christ, he resolves not to be for another. a1800Milner (Webster 1828), The sages of antiquity will not dare to compete with the inspired authors. 1822Heber Life Jer. Taylor (L.), There was none who could compete with him in renown of learning and genius. 1826Southey in Q. Rev. XXXIV. 101 Some of our ancient oaks and yews might..compete with the grandest trees of a Sumatran forest.
2. To strive with another, for the attainment of a thing, in doing something.
1795Southey Joan of Arc vii. 182 Competing with him to protect the Maid. 1803W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. I. 274 All the country gentlemen who compete for the raising of regiments. 1822[M. Davenport Hill] Public Education 205 All his endeavours to compete with his elders are resented by them. 1824De Quincey (Review of prec.) in Lond. Mag. 411 From his use of the Scotticisms ‘succumb’, ‘compete’..he ought to be a Scotchman. 1824Blackw. Mag. XVI. 620 Another class of transgressions, in our author, we shall now enumerate:—‘to compete’—(an American discovery). 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 391 Different persons should compete with one another in asking questions.
b. esp. in commercial relations: To strive with others in the production and sale of commodities, or command of the market.
a1844Campbell Poems, Revisiting Sc. River iii, Till Toil grows cheaper than the trodden weed, And man competes with man, like foe with foe. 1857Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 59 Let the paper manufacturers compete with the government. 1878Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. 79 The stores are also useful, because they compete with shopkeepers, and induce them to lower their prices. |