contend

English

Etymology

From Middle English contenden, borrowed from Old French contendre, from Latin contendere (“to stretch out, extend, strive after, contend”), from com- (“together”) + tendere (“to stretch”); see tend, and compare attend, extend, intend, subtend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɛnd/
• Rhymes: -ɛnd

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Verb

contend (third-person singular simple present contends, present participle contending, simple past and past participle contended)

1. (intransitive) To be in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 2:9:

     The Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle.

   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     For never two such kingdoms did contend without much fall of blood.

   • 2011, Osaiah "Ike" Wilson III, James J.F. Forrest, Handbook of Defence Politics

     the armies of Syria and Lebanon lack the capability to contend with the Israeli army, as demonstrated during the course of the First Lebanon War.

2. (intransitive) To struggle or exert oneself to obtain or retain possession of, or to defend.
   • 17th century, John Dryden, Epistle III to the Lady Castlemain

     You sit above, and see vain men below / Contend for what you only can bestow.

   • 2020, C. Matthew McMahon, Therese B. McMahon, 5 Marks of Christian Resolve:

     God has entrusted something to the church, and it is the church's job to contend for it, even unto death

3. (intransitive) To be in debate; to engage in discussion; to dispute; to argue.
   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 9:

     these simple ideas are far from those innate principles which some contend for

   • 1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […], →OCLC:

     many of those things he so fiercely contended about , were either falle or trivial

4. (intransitive) To believe (something is reasonable) and argue (for it); to advocate.

   In this paper the author contends that no useful results can be obtained if this method is used.

   • 1996, Michael Adler, Erio Ziglio, Gazing Into the Oracle […] :

     Some panellists contended that the costs of research and care justified the establishment of a permanent national commission

   • 2022 August 24, Tassanee Vejpongsa, Grant Peck, “Thai court suspends PM Prayuth pending ruling on term limit”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], retrieved 2022-08-24:

     His critics contend the eight years [term limit] expired Tuesday, the day before the anniversary of Prayuth officially becoming prime minister in the military government installed after the coup.

   • Supreme Court of the United States (2024) Trump v. Anderson‎^{s:Trump v. Anderson}, page 1:

     A group of Colorado voters contends that Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits former President Donald J. Trump, who seeks the Presidential nomination of the Republican Party in this year’s election, from becoming President again.

5. contend with: To try to cope with a difficulty or problem.
   • 2021 December 29, Dominique Louis, “Causal analysis: crashworthiness at Sandilands”, in RAIL, number 947, page 32:

     However, the challenges for the railway world are much greater than for automotive as we generally have more occupants, higher speeds, greater masses, higher energies, and an absence of seatbelts or airbags to contend with.

Synonyms

• (strive in opposition): fight, combat, vie, oppose
• (struggle): struggle, strive, emulate (rare)
• (strive in debate): contest, litigate, dispute, debate
• (believe and argue): assert, aver

Derived terms

• contendingly
• contend with
• noncontending
• uncontended
• uncontending

 

Related terms

• contender
• contention
• contentious

Translations

strive in opposition

• Bulgarian: съпернича (bg) (sǎperniča), състезавам се (sǎstezavam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奮鬥／奋斗 (zh) (fèndòu), 掙扎 (zh) (zhēngzhá), 競爭／竞争 (zh) (jìngzhēng), 鬥爭／斗争 (zh) (dòuzhēng)

• Czech: zápasit impf, bojovat (cs) impf, rvát se impf
• Dutch: weerspreken (nl), tegenspreken (nl), betwisten (nl)
• Finnish: kiistellä (fi), käydä käsiksi, riidellä (fi), taistella (fi)
• German: streiten (de), sich auseinandersetzen, ringen mit, sich widersetzen, kämpfen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (haifstjan)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀγωνίζομαι (agōnízomai), ἀθλέω (athléō)

• Latin: certō, dīmicō
• Maori: tauwhāinga, taumāhekeheke (in a friendly manner), tauwhāinga, kōkirikiri
• Middle English: macchen
• Old English: flītan
• Persian: ستیزه کردن (setize kardan)
• Russian: соперничать (ru) (soperničatʹ)
• Sanskrit: स्पर्धते (spardhate)
• Spanish: contender (es), refertar
• Swedish: kämpa (sv), strida (sv)
• Ukrainian: змага́тися (zmahátysja)

struggle

• Bulgarian: боря се (borja se), сражавам се (sražavam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 競爭／竞争 (zh) (jìngzhēng), 爭奪／争夺 (zh) (zhēngduó), 掙扎 (zh) (zhēngzhá)

• Czech: snažit se (cs) impf, namáhat se impf, probíjet se impf
• Dutch: bestrijden (nl)
• Finnish: kamppailla (fi)
• German: verteidigen (de), festhalten an, ringen um, kämpfen für, kämpfen um
• Latin: dīmicō
• Maori: kairapu, kairapurapu
• Old Norse: þreyta
• Russian: боро́ться (ru) (borótʹsja)
• Spanish: contender (es)
• Ukrainian: боро́тися (uk) (borótysja)

strive in debate

• Bulgarian: споря (bg) (sporja)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 爭論／争论 (zh) (zhēnglùn), 辯論／辩论 (zh) (biànlùn)

• Czech: tvrdit (cs) impf
• Dutch: betwisten (nl)
• Finnish: väitellä (fi)
• German: sich einsetzen für, argumentieren (de), streiten für
• Maori: tauwhawhai, taukumekume
• Russian: утвержда́ть (ru) (utverždátʹ)
• Spanish: sostener (es)
• Ukrainian: спереча́тися (sperečátysja), наполяга́ти (napoljaháty)

believe and argue

• Bulgarian: застъпвам (bg) (zastǎpvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 認為／认为 (zh) (rènwéi), 論證／论证 (zh) (lùnzhèng)

• Dutch: aantonen (nl)
• Finnish: esittää (fi), väittää (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Persian: ^{(please verify)} ستیزه کردن،مخالفت کرده با، رقابت کردن، ادعا کردن

Further reading

• “contend”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “contend”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “contend”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.