Competing

How to spell competing

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce competing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does competing mean?

1. verbStriving against others to win or achieve something.
2. adjectiveRival or conflicting, pulling in different directions.

Competing in a sentence

• verb

  The two supermarkets are competing for the same customers.

• adjective

  The manager had to balance several competing priorities at once.

• verb

  She is competing in the regional championship this weekend.

• adjective

  Two competing theories tried to explain the same data.

Where does competing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the present participle of the verb 'compete', which English took from the Latin competere. That verb originally meant 'to come together' or 'to meet at one point', built from com- 'together' and petere 'to seek, strive for, or aim at'. In Late Latin the sense shifted toward people striving toward the same goal, and from there to rivalry, since two parties seeking the same prize naturally clash. English borrowed it in the early 1600s, and the same petere root survives in relatives such as 'appetite', 'petition', and 'repeat'. The spelling stays reassuringly regular here: the silent 'e' of 'compete' is simply dropped before adding '-ing', giving 'competing' with a single 't'.

How the word is built

• com- (together)
• pet (from Latin petere: to seek, strive)
• -ing (present participle suffix)