What is the definition of a competition?
The idea of a competition is one that can be traced back all the way through the history of humanity, and you could also argue that it is something that has consistently spurred us on to do better too. Just think about the Olympics, for example, a type of sports competitions that has continuously seen humans get the best out of each other over several thousand years.
The funny thing about the general word “competition” is that it can also mean so many different things. From Facebook competitions and ITV competitions in the modern day, all the way through to traditional strength or lottery competitions, the word itself just has so much meaning to it. At Winzum it got us thinking: what is the actual definition of a competition? Keep reading to find out!
As the dictionary tells it
The best way to settle on a concrete definition for anything is to head straight for the good old dictionary, so that is exactly what we’ve done here.
The Cambridge Dictionary has two main definitions, “a situation in which someone is trying to win something or be more successful than someone else”, and, “an organized event in which people try to win a prize by being the best, fastest, etc”.
That sounds like a pretty good definition to us, however in the last few decades there has definitely been an increase in things like online competitions or TV competitions like the This Morning competition. This can slightly skew the overall definition of the word, as more and more people will first identify it with online competitions rather than sporting events.
A brief history of competitions
Although sporting competitions have been around for a very long time, the first recorded use of the word “competition” was more in the context of things like lotteries. In fact, these lottery competitions were routinely used in order to choose important government positions, or even human sacrifices.
There are so many instances of competitions throughout history, and as time drew on they were increasingly used for the purpose that they mainly serve today – fun and the chance to win money or other exciting prizes! For a more in-depth look at the history of competitions head here [a history of competitions] for more.
The various forms of competition
You would not believe the amount of different types of paid and free to enter competitions that are around these days. Winzum competitions (obviously) ITV competitions, Good Morning competitions, Facebook competitions, Instagram competitions… The list is pretty much infinite!