Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

tournament

 - 3 dictionary results

tour⋅na⋅ment

[toor-nuh-muhnt, tur-]
–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.
Cite This Source Link To tournament
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.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

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
Cite This Source
Search another word or see tournament on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: