sport means any activity that uses physical exertion or skills competitively under a set of rules that is not based on aesthetics.
sport is pronounced /spɔːt/.
Why “sport” is a great word
An activity involving physical exertion and skill, governed by rules and engaged in competitively; also, to wear or display something publicly. From Middle English sport (noun) and sporten (verb), aphetic shortenings of disport, from Old French desporter ("to divert, amuse"), from des- ("away") + porter ("to carry"), from Latin portāre ("to carry"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- ("to lead, pass over"). First attested in English as a noun c. 1400. Unlike "game," which emphasizes structured activity but not necessarily physical strain, or "pastime," which denotes mere pleasurable leisure, sport is ritualized contest. It is the controlled violence of a boxing ring, the elegant geometry of a long jumper arcing through air, the absurd spectacle of grown humans chasing a leather sphere across a field—a temporary, glorious rebellion against the entropy of the flesh.
Etymology
From Middle English sporten (“to divert, disport”, verb) and sport, spoort, sporte (noun), apheretic shortenings of disporten (verb) and disport, disporte (noun), from Old French desporter (“to divert, amuse, please, play; to seek amusement”), etymologically meaning "to carry away (the mind from serious matters)," from des- + porter, from Latin dis- + Latin portāre, ultimately from Latin deportāre, from de- + portāre, from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to lead, pass over”)). Replaced native English laik, lake (“sport, fun, amusement”), and Middle English spile, spyl (“fun, sport, play”). More at disport. Doublet of disport and deport.
noun
- Any activity that uses physical exertion or skills competitively under a set of rules that is not based on aesthetics.e.g.“Basketball is her favorite sport, and she also enjoys various other sports as well.”
- A person who exhibits either good or bad sportsmanship.e.g.“Jen may have won, but she was sure a poor sport; she laughed at the loser.”
- Somebody who behaves or reacts in an admirably good-natured manner, e.g. to being teased or to losing a game; a good sport.e.g.“You're such a sport! You never get upset when we tease you.”
- Something fun, pastime; amusement.e.g.“Think it but a minute spent in sport.” — 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[w
- Mockery, making fun; derision.
- A toy; a plaything; an object of mockery.e.g.“flitting leaves, the sport of every wind” — 1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- Gaming for money as in racing, hunting, or fishing.
- A plant or an animal, or part of a plant or animal, which has some peculiarity not usually seen in the species; an abnormal variety or growth. The term encompasses both mutants and organisms with non-genetic developmental abnormalities such as birth defects.e.g.“We never shot another like it, so I do not know if it was a `sport' or a distinct species.” — 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
- A sportsman; a gambler.e.g.“See my dressed like all the sports/In my blazer and a pair of shorts.” — 1937 January 24, “With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock”performed by George Formby:
- One who consorts with disreputable people, including prostitutes.
- An amorous dalliance.
- A friend or acquaintance (chiefly used when speaking to the friend in question)e.g.“"Say, sport!" he would say briskly.” — 1924 July, Ellis Butler, “The Little Tin Godlets”, in The Rotarian, volume 25, number 1, Rotary International, page 14:
- Term of endearment used by an adult for a child, usually a boy.e.g.“Hey, sport! You've gotten so big since I saw you last! Give me five.”
- Play; idle jingle.e.g.“1725-1726, William Broome, The Odyssey
An author who should introduce such a sport of words upon our stage […] would meet with small applause.”
verb
- To amuse oneself, to play.e.g.“children sporting on the green”
- To mock or tease, treat lightly, toy with.e.g.“Jen sports with Bill's emotions.”
- To display; to have as a notable feature.e.g.“Jen's sporting a new pair of shoes; he was sporting a new wound from the combat”
- To divert; to amuse; to make merry.e.g.“Against whom do ye sport yourselves?” — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 57:4:
- To represent by any kind of play.e.g.“Now sporting on thy lyre the loves of youth.” — 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Sixth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Toget
- To practise the diversions of the field or the turf; to be given to betting, as upon races.
- To assume suddenly a new and different character from the rest of the plant or from the type of the species; said of a bud, shoot, plant, or animal.e.g.“more than one kind of rose has sported into a moss” — 1860, Charles Darwin, The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication:
- To close (a door).e.g.“There he locked it up in a drawer, sported the doors of both sets of rooms, and retired to bed.” — 1904, M. R. James, The Mezzotint:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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