Challenger

How to spell challenger

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce challenger

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does challenger mean?

1. nounA person or team that competes against an established leader or champion for a title or position.

Challenger in a sentence

• The reigning champion easily beat the young challenger in three rounds.

• The new smartphone is being marketed as a serious challenger to the market leader.

Where does challenger come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back through the verb 'challenge' to the Old French 'chalenge' or 'chalonge', which meant an accusation, a dispute, or a formal claim. Behind the French sits the Latin 'calumnia', meaning a false accusation or trickery, the same root that gives us 'calumny'. When the word entered English in the 1200s, a 'challenge' first carried the legal sense of laying claim to something or accusing someone, only later softening into the modern idea of inviting a contest or testing a rival. The agent suffix '-er' was then attached to mark the person who issues such a contest, producing 'challenger'. The doubled 'l' and the soft 'g' before 'e' both survive from the French spelling, and they are exactly where adult writers tend to slip.

How the word is built

• challenge (from Old French chalenge: an accusation, a claim)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)