versus
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English versus, borrowed from Latin versus (“facing”), past participle of vertere (“to turn, change, overthrow, destroy”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈvɜːsəs/, /ˈvɜːsɪz/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈvɝsəs/, /ˈvɝsəz/, /ˈvɝs/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)səs
Audio (UK): (file) - Homophone: verses
Preposition
versus
- Against; in opposition to.
- Compared with, as opposed to.
- 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times[1]:
- In polling by the Pew Research Center in November 2008, fully half the respondents thought the two parties would cooperate more in the coming year, versus only 36 percent who thought the climate would grow more adversarial.
- 2005, Robert E. Weiss, Modeling Longitudinal Data, Springer, →ISBN, page 104:
- If, for example, we select random people entering a workout gym, versus if we pick random people entering a hospital, we will get very different samples.
- (law) Bringing a legal action against, as used in the title of a court case in which the first party indicates the plaintiff (or appellant or the like), and the second indicates the defendant (or respondent or the like).
- Interacting with, especially to record reactions
- (music) Mashed up with.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English versus, borrowed from Latin versus (“facing”), past participle of vertere (“to turn, change, overthrow, destroy”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈvɝs/
- Homophone: verse
Verb
versus (third-person singular simple present versuses, present participle versusing, simple past and past participle versused)
(colloquial)
- To face in competition
- To fight
Further reading
Finnish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʋersus/, [ˈʋe̞rs̠us̠]
- Rhymes: -ersus
- Syllabification(key): ver‧sus
- Hyphenation(key): ver‧sus
Preposition
versus [with nominative]
Further reading
- “versus”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 4 July 2023
French
Etymology
From Latin versus. Doublet of vers.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vɛʁ.sys/
- Rhymes: -ys
Preposition
versus
Indonesian
Etymology
Internationalism, from Latin versus. Doublet of verso.
Pronunciation
- (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /ˈvɛrsus/ [ˈfɛr.sʊs]
- Rhymes: -ɛrsus
- Syllabification: ver‧sus
Particle
versus
Further reading
- “versus” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin versus. Doublet of verso, which is inherited.
Preposition
versus
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈwɛr.sʊs]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈvɛr.sus]
Etymology 1
From earlier vorsus, from Proto-Italic *worssos, perfect passive participle of vertō (“to turn”).
Alternative forms
- vorsus
Participle
versus (feminine versa, neuter versum); first/second-declension participle
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
| nominative | versus | versa | versum | versī | versae | versa | |
| genitive | versī | versae | versī | versōrum | versārum | versōrum | |
| dative | versō | versae | versō | versīs | |||
| accusative | versum | versam | versum | versōs | versās | versa | |
| ablative | versō | versā | versō | versīs | |||
| vocative | verse | versa | versum | versī | versae | versa | |
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Adverbial use of versus (“turned”).
Alternative forms
Adverb
versus (not comparable)
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 3
Action noun from vertō + -tus.
Alternative forms
- vorsus
Noun
versus m (genitive versūs); fourth declension
- a furrow (turned earth)
- (transf.) a line, row
- (partic.) a line of writing, a verse
- c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 6.14:
- Magnum ibi numerum versuum ediscere dicuntur.
- They are said to learn by heart a great number of verses there.
- Magnum ibi numerum versuum ediscere dicuntur.
- (partic.) a line of writing, a verse
- a land measure (= πλέθρον (pléthron))
- 1st century BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, Rerum rusticarum libri III (Agricultural Topics in Three Books). Liber I, X:
- Ille, Modos, quibus metirentur rura, alius alios constituit. Nam in Hispania ulteriore metiuntur iugis, in Campania versibus, apud nos in agro Romano ac Latino iugeris. Iugum vocant, quod iuncti boves uno die exarare possint.
- Each country has its own method of measuring land. Thus in farther Spain the unit of measure is the iugum, in Campania the versus, with us here in the district of Rome and in Latium the iugerum. The iugum is the amount of land which a yoke of oxen can plough in a day; the versus is an area 100 feet square; 2 the iugerum an area containing two square actus.
- Ille, Modos, quibus metirentur rura, alius alios constituit. Nam in Hispania ulteriore metiuntur iugis, in Campania versibus, apud nos in agro Romano ac Latino iugeris. Iugum vocant, quod iuncti boves uno die exarare possint.
- (dance) a turn, step
Declension
Fourth-declension noun.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | versus | versūs |
| genitive | versūs | versuum |
| dative | versuī | versibus |
| accusative | versum | versūs |
| ablative | versū | versibus |
| vocative | versus | versūs |
Derived terms
Descendants
- Catalan: vers
- Corsican: versu
- French: vers
- Friulian: viers
- Italian: verso
- Occitan: vers
- Old Galician-Portuguese: vesso
- Old Spanish: viesso
- Piedmontese: vers
- Romanian: viers
- Sardinian: bessu
- → Albanian: vjershë
- → English: verse
- → Polish: wiersz
- → Portuguese: verso
- → Serbo-Croatian: vȅrs/ве̏рс
- → Spanish: verso
- → Swedish: vers
- → Welsh: gwers
Etymology 4
Perfect passive participle of verrō (“to sweep”).
Participle
versus (feminine versa, neuter versum); first/second-declension participle
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
| nominative | versus | versa | versum | versī | versae | versa | |
| genitive | versī | versae | versī | versōrum | versārum | versōrum | |
| dative | versō | versae | versō | versīs | |||
| accusative | versum | versam | versum | versōs | versās | versa | |
| ablative | versō | versā | versō | versīs | |||
| vocative | verse | versa | versum | versī | versae | versa | |
References
- “versus, -a, -um”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “versus, -a, -um”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “versus (adv. and prep.)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “versus (adv. and prep.)”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “versus, -ūs”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “versus, -ūs”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- "versus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- versus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
- to sing the praises of some one (not canere aliquem: alicuius laudes versibus persequi
- to celebrate some one's exploits in song: alicuius res gestas versibus ornare, celebrare
- (ambiguous) in all directions: quoquo versus; in omnes partes
- (ambiguous) to advance in the direction of Rome: Romam versus proficisci
- (ambiguous) to write poetry: versus facere, scribere
- (ambiguous) to write poetry with facility: carmina , versus fundere (De Or. 3. 50)
- (ambiguous) to recite a poem, line with appropriate action: carmen, versum agere
- to sing the praises of some one (not canere aliquem: alicuius laudes versibus persequi
- Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “vĕrsus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 705
Anagrams
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin versus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvɛr.sus/
- Rhymes: -ɛrsus
- Syllabification: ver‧sus
Preposition
versus
Further reading
- versus in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈvɛʁ.sus/ [ˈvɛh.sus]
- (São Paulo) IPA(key): /ˈvɛɾ.sus/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ˈvɛʁ.suʃ/ [ˈvɛχ.suʃ]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈvɛɻ.sus/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈvɛɾ.suʃ/
- (Northern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈbɛɾ.suʃ/
- Hyphenation: ver‧sus
Preposition
versus
- alternative spelling of vérsus
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from English versus,[1] from Latin versus. Doublet of verso.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbeɾsus/ [ˈbeɾ.sus]
- Rhymes: -eɾsus
- Syllabification: ver‧sus
Preposition
versus
- versus
- Esta noche transmitiremos a Alberto del Río versus John Cena en vivo.
- Tonight, we'll be broadcasting Alberto del Rio versus John Cena live.
Usage notes
- This word is sometimes frowned upon as an anglicism, with the suggestion that contra or the conjunction y should be used instead.
References
- ^ “versus”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
Further reading
- “versus”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024