defeat | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

74 entries found.

1540s, "to disgrace," of uncertain origin. Perhaps a Scottish respelling of bauchle "to disgrace publicly" (especially a perjured knight), which is probably related to French bafouer "to abuse, hoodwink" (16c.), possibly from baf, a natural sound of disgust, like bah (compare German baff machen "to flabbergast"). The original sense is obsolete. Meaning "defeat someone's efforts, frustrate by interposing obstacles or difficulties" is from 1670s. Related: Baffled; baffling.

victor (n.)

mid-14c., victour, "winner of a battle, test of strength, etc.; conqueror; famous warrior," from Anglo-French, Old French victor "conqueror," and directly from Latin victorem (nominative victor) "a conqueror," agent noun from past participle stem of vincere "to conquer, overcome, defeat," from nasalized form of PIE root *weik- (3) "to fight, conquer." Fem. formations include victrice (late 14c.), victress (c. 1600), victrix (1650s).

detriment (n.)

early 15c., "incapacity;" mid-15c., "any harm or injury," from Old French détriment or directly from Latin detrimentum "a rubbing off; a loss, damage, defeat," from past-participle stem of detere "to wear away," figuratively "to weaken, impair," from de "away" (see de-) + terere "to rub, wear" (from PIE root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn"). Meaning "that which causes harm or injury" is from c. 1500.

jaw (n.)

late 14c., jowe, joue, "the bones of the mouth," "A word of difficult etymology" [OED]. Probably from Old French joue "cheek," originally jode, from Gallo-Romance *gauta or directly from Gaulish *gabata, but there are phonetic problems; or perhaps a variant of Germanic words related to chew (v.); compare also the two nouns jowl. Replaced Old English ceace, ceafl. Jaws as "holding and gripping part of an appliance" is from mid-15c.; figuratively, of time, death, defeat, etc., from 1560s.

flight (n.2)

"act of fleeing," c. 1200, flihht, not found in Old English, but presumed to have existed and cognate with Old Saxon fluht, Old Frisian flecht "act of fleeing," Dutch vlucht, Old High German fluht, German Flucht, Old Norse flotti, Gothic þlauhs, from Proto-Germanic *flugti-, suffixed form of PIE root *pleu- "to flow." To put (someone or something) to flight "rout, defeat" is from late 14c., the earlier verb form do o' flight (early 13c.).

docudrama (n.)

"television drama based on real events," by 1957, American English, from documentary + drama. The first so-called appears to have been written as a stage play, "We Call to Mind," a "dramatic presentation of the development of education and its significance in American life," written by Philip C. Lewis and produced by the Tenafly, New Jersey, Citizens Education Council and the Tenafly Drama Workshop after the defeat of a school budget.

supplant (v.)

early 14c., "to trip up, overthrow, defeat, dispossess," from Old French suplanter, sosplanter "to trip up, overthrow, drive out, usurp," or directly from Latin supplantare "trip up, overthrow," from assimilated form of sub "under" (see sub-) + planta "sole of the foot" (see plant (n.)). Meaning "replace one thing with another" first recorded 1670s. There is a sense evolution parallel in Hebrew akabh "he beguiled," from akebh "heel."

plaster (v.)

early 14c., "to cover or overlay (walls) with plaster;" late 14c., "to coat with a medicative plaster," from plaster (n.) and partly from Old French plastrier "to cover with plaster" (Modern French plâtrer), from plastre. Figurative use, "to load to excess" (with praise, etc.), is from c. 1600. Meaning "to bomb (a target) heavily" is first recorded 1915. Sports sense of "to defeat decisively" is from 1919. as an adjective, plastered is from late 14c. as "coated with plaster." The slang meaning "very drunk" is attested by 1912.

lick (v.2)

"to beat, surpass, overcome" 1530s, perhaps from figurative use of lick (v.1) in the Coverdale bible that year in a sense of "defeat, annihilate" (an enemy's forces) in Numbers xxii.4:

Now shal this heape licke up all that is about vs, euen as an oxe licketh vp the grasse in the field.

But to lick (of) the whip "taste punishment" is attested from mid-15c.

corner (v.)

late 14c., "to furnish with corners; bring to a point by convergence," from corner (n.). Meaning "to turn a corner," as in a race, is from 1860s. Meaning "drive or force (someone) into a corner," also figuratively, "force into a position where defeat or surrender is inevitable," is American English from 1824; commercial sense "monopolize the market supply of a stock or commodity" is from 1836. Related: Cornered; cornering.

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