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tournament - 4 dictionary results

tour⋅na⋅ment

  [toor-nuh-muhnt, tur-]
Use tournament in a Sentence
–noun
1. a trial of skill in some game, in which competitors play a series of contests: a chess tournament.
2. a meeting for contests in a variety of sports, as between teams of different nations.
3. History/Historical.
a. a contest or martial sport in which two opposing parties of mounted and armored combatants fought for a prize, with blunted weapons and in accordance with certain rules.
b. a meeting at an appointed time and place for the performance of knightly exercises and sports.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME tornement < OF torneiement, equiv. to torne(ier) to tourney + -ment -ment
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tour·na·ment   (tŏŏr'nə-mənt, tûr'-)   
n.  
  1. A series of contests in which a number of contestants compete and the one that prevails through the final round or that finishes with the best record is declared the winner.
  2. A medieval martial sport in which two groups of mounted and armored combatants fought against each other with blunted lances or swords.

[Middle English tournement, a medieval sport, from Old French torneiement, from torneier, to tourney; see tourney.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tournament

Tour"na*ment\, n. [OE. turnement, tornement, OF. torneiement, tornoiement, F. tournoiement a turning or wheeling round. See Tourney.]

1. A mock fight, or warlike game, formerly in great favor, in which a number of combatants were engaged, as an exhibition of their address and bravery; hence, figuratively, a real battle. "In battle and in tourneyment." --Chaucer.

With cruel tournament the squadrons join. --Milton.

Note: It different from the joust, which was a trial of skill between one man and another.

2. Any contest of skill in which there are many contestents for championship; as, a chess tournament.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : tournament
Spanish: torneo,
German: das Tournier,
Japanese: トーナメント
More Translations »

tournament 
1297, "medieval martial arts contest," from O.Fr. torneiement "contest between groups of knights on horseback" (c.1150), from torneier "to joust, tilt" (see tourney). Modern use, in ref. to games of skill, is recorded from 1761.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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