喜樂美語

You can picture two sides standing face to face over the same thing, each one making its claim in front of everybody: the prize, the seat, the verdict can only go one way, so both sides push until one of them gets it. Whether they are running a race or arguing a case, the shape is the same.

可以想成兩邊面對面站著，爭同一樣東西，而且是當著大家的面各說各的：獎、位子、判決只能給一邊，所以兩邊都往前推，推到其中一邊拿到為止。不管是在跑道上比賽，還是在會議室裡吵一份文件，形狀都是同一個。

From the word’s history

From Latin contestari (litem) 'to call to witness, bring an action', from com- 'together' + testari 'to bear witness' (testis 'a witness'). The Roman way to open a lawsuit was to call in witnesses; from there English took 'fight or do battle for' (c. 1600), then 'dispute, argue against' (1610s-1660s), and only in the 1640s the noun 'a struggle for victory or a prize'.

拉丁文 contestari (litem) 的意思是「召喚證人、提起訴訟」，由 com-「一起」加 testari「作證」（testis 就是證人）組成。羅馬人開始打官司的第一步就是把證人叫來，所以這個字一開始整個站在法庭裡。後來它先變成「為某件事拚搏」，再變成「提出異議、反對」，名詞的「比賽」反而是最後（1640 年代）才長出來的。知道這條線，contest 三個看起來不相干的用法就串起來了：比賽、正式提出異議、法律上的 plead no contest——都是「兩邊在公開場合把事情爭出一個結果」。

Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/contest

登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。

n複數 contests

v過去式 contested過去分詞 contested-ing contesting三單 contests

意思相反

withdraw fromacceptconcedeagreeallow

原始詞典資料7 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

contestnoun/ˈkɒn.tɛst/

  • 1

    Controversy; debate.

    • no contest
    • Your question betrays, I suspect, a somewhat naive vision of the world as much smaller (and much more homogenized) than it could possibly be — a vision that one of my "personal" visions, as you'll find it in some of my recent science fiction, is specifically and heartedly in contest with.
  • 2

    Struggle for superiority; combat.

  • 3

    A competition.

    • The child entered the spelling contest.

contestverb/kənˈtɛst/

  • 1

    To contend.

    • I will contest for the open seat on the board.
    • Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove contest?
  • 2

    To call into question; to oppose.

    • The rival contested the dictator's re-election because of claims of voting irregularities.
    • Few philosophical aphorisms have been more frequently repeated, few more contested than this.
  • 3

    To strive earnestly to hold or maintain; to struggle to defend.

    • The troops contested every inch of ground.
  • 4

    lawTo make a subject of litigation; to defend, as a suit; to dispute or resist, as a claim, by course of law.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。