different between fight vs contention

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English fighten, from Old English feohtan (“to fight, combat, strive”), from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan, from Proto-Germanic *fehtan? (“to comb, tease, shear, struggle with”), from Proto-Indo-European *pe?- (“to comb, shear”).

Cognate with Scots fecht (“to fight”), West Frisian fjochtsje, fjuchte (“to fight”), Dutch vechten (“to fight”), Low German fechten (“to fight”), German fechten (“to fight, fence”), Swedish fäkta (“to fence, to fight (using blade weapons), to wave vigorously (and carelessly) with one's arms”), Latin pect? (“comb, thrash”, verb), Albanian pjek (“to hit, strive, fight”), Ancient Greek ???? (pék?, “comb or card wool”, verb). Related also to Old English feht (“wool, shaggy pelt, fleece”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: f?t, IPA^(key): /fa?t/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): [f??t]
• Rhymes: -a?t

Verb

fight (third-person singular simple present fights, present participle fighting, simple past fought, past participle fought or (archaic) foughten)

1. (intransitive) To contend in physical conflict, either singly or in war, battle etc.

2. (reciprocal) To contend in physical conflict with each other, either singly or in war, battle etc.

3. (intransitive) To strive for something; to campaign or contend for success.
4. (transitive) To conduct or engage in (battle, warfare etc.).
   • 1856, Thomas Macaulay, Life of Samuel Johnson

     was left to fight his way through the world.

   • I have fought a good fight.

5. (transitive) To engage in combat with; to oppose physically, to contest with.

6. (transitive) To try to overpower; to fiercely counteract.
7. (transitive, archaic) To cause to fight; to manage or manoeuvre in a fight.

8. (intransitive) Of colours or other design elements: to clash; to fail to harmonize.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fight

Derived terms

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: feti

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English fight, feyght, fi?t, fecht, from Old English feoht, ?efeoht, from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan, from Proto-Germanic *feht?, *gafeht? (“fight, struggle”), from Proto-Germanic *fehtan? (“to struggle with”). Cognate with Dutch gevecht, German Gefecht.

Noun

fight (countable and uncountable, plural fights)

1. An occasion of fighting.

2. (archaic) A battle between opposing armies.
3. A physical confrontation or combat between two or more people or groups.

4. (sports) A boxing or martial arts match.

5. A conflict, possibly nonphysical, with opposing ideas or forces; strife.

6. (uncountable) The will or ability to fight.

7. (obsolete) A screen for the combatants in ships.
   • 1673, John Dryden, Amboyna

     Up with your fights, and your nettings prepare.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fight

Derived terms

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: feti
  • ? Dutch: fittie
• ? Japanese: ???? (faito)

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English contencion, borrowed from Old French contencion, from Latin contentio, contentionem, from contend? (past participle contentus); see contend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?t?n??n/
• Hyphenation: con?ten?tion

Noun

contention (countable and uncountable, plural contentions)

1. Argument, contest, debate, strife, struggle.
2. A point maintained in an argument, or a line of argument taken in its support; the subject matter of discussion of strife; a position taken or contended for.

   It is my contention that state lotteries are taxes on stupid people.

3. (computing, telecommunications) Competition by parts of a system or its users for a limited resource.

Synonyms

• gainstrife, gainstriving, wrangling

Hyponyms

• (computing) resource contention

Derived terms

• bone of contention
• contention system
• in contention
• resource contention

Related terms

Translations

References

• contention on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• contention in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• contention in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin contentio, contentionem. Cf. the inherited form contençon, and see also tençon.

Noun

contention f (oblique plural contentions, nominative singular contention, nominative plural contentions)

1. dispute; quarrel; disagreement

Related terms

• contendre
• contençon
• tençon

Descendants

• English: contention
• French: contention