victory

Pronunciation: /ˈvɪk.tə.ɹi/

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a successful ending of a struggle or contest

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English victory, victori, victorie (“supremacy, victory; a defeat or vanquishing, conquest; superior military force; might, power, strength; triumphal celebration or procession; monument commemorating a defeat; superior position, dominance; mastery; moral victory, vindication; success, triumph; redemption, salvation; resurrection of Jesus; means of achieving spiritual victory; reward for or token of perseverance in a spiritual struggle”) [and other forms], borrowed from Anglo-Norman victorie and Old French victorie, a variant of victoire (“victory, win”) (modern French victoire), from Latin victōria (“victory”), from victor (“champion, winner, victor; conqueror, vanquisher”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to contain, envelop; to overcome”)) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). The English word is analysable as victor + -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state), and displaced Middle English siȝe, sye. The interjection is derived from the noun. Cognates Cognate with French victoire, Italian vittoria, Portuguese vitoria, Spanish victoria, Romanian victorie. Tamil வெற்றி (veṟṟi) (pronounced roughly like "vetri") is a false cognate.

In classic literature

Synonyms

triumph

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
success, ending
Narrower (hyponyms)
checkmate, independence, last laugh, pyrrhic victory, slam, landslide
Opposite (antonyms)
defeat

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