competitor
Pluralcompetitors
- 1A person or organization that one is competing against, whether in business or in a contest.
The firm studied every competitor in the regional market before launching.
Smaller competitors struggled to match the discounts offered by the chain.
Similarrival, opponent, challenger, adversary
Oppositeally, partner, collaborator
- 2A person who takes part in a competition, especially an athletic event.
Every competitor must register before the opening ceremony.
Olympic competitors from dozens of nations marched into the stadium.
Similarcontestant, participant, entrant, contender
- 3A partner or associate; one who works together with another toward a common goal.
Note
A reversal worth knowing before reading Elizabethan drama: the Latin com- ('together') once carried the weight, so the word could name an ally rather than a rival. In Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great (c. 1587–1588), the hero urges, "Then shalt thou be Competitor with me, And sit with Tamburlaine". It is an offer of shared glory, not a contest. The sense is obsolete; a modern reader would hear a rival, so leave it to the old texts.
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Origin
Borrowed from Middle French compétiteur, itself from Latin competitor.