Hi everyone. Long time, no see. Work and parenthood keeping me busy these days! Anyway, I got to wondering about the etymology of compete. I knew that the com- part at the beginning is from the Latin for with, but what about the --pete? Turns out this comes from the Latin verb petere -- which is variously defined as to ask, to seek, or to beg or beseech. And it turns out that there are many common English words whose etymology traces back to petere, including:

appetite
impetigo
centrepital
impetus
petition
petulant
repeat
impetuous

And I even learned a new [to me] word, appetence
1. intense desire; strong natural craving; appetite.
2. instinctive inclination or natural tendency.
3. material or chemical attraction or affinity.

There is even a "app" -- no pun intended -- called Appetence, which is a "slow dating" service for singles. I am not entirely sure what "slow dating" is but my best guess it is either an activity for singles who do not wish to hop into bed together on the first date, or else it is intended to help dim witted people find mates. I myself have no use for such an app, ensconced as I am in matrimony, which is the slowest dating of all. Ciao.



Last edited by Alex Williams; 07/18/18 12:35 PM.