vanquish

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈvæŋkwɪʃ/ UK /ˈvæŋkwɪʃ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to defeat thoroughly in battle or competition

The young knight vowed to vanquish the dragon terrorizing the village.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to defeat thoroughly in... defeat conquer overcome subdue crush rout overpower

Opposites

lose surrender yield submit

Word family

Forms vanquished

Derived forms vanquishervanquishedvanquishment

Related forms victor convince

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

Woe to the vanquished

Simplified etymology

Vanquish entered English in the Middle English period and ultimately derives from Latin vincere, ‘to conquer’.

Etymology

From Old French vainquir, from Latin vincere ('to conquer, overcome'); the form was influenced by Old French vencus, the past participle of veintre.

vainquir Old French vincere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# vanquish

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈvæŋkwɪʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈvæŋkwɪʃ/

## Meanings
1. to defeat thoroughly in battle or competition

## Examples
- The young knight vowed to vanquish the dragon terrorizing the village.

## Synonyms
- defeat
- conquer
- overcome
- subdue
- crush
- rout
- overpower

## Antonyms
- lose
- surrender
- yield
- submit

## Derived Forms
- vanquisher
- vanquished
- vanquishment

## Related Forms
- victor
- convince

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: vainquir
- Root: vincere

## Etymology
From Old French vainquir, from Latin vincere ('to conquer, overcome'); the form was influenced by Old French vencus, the past participle of veintre.

## AI Etymology
Vanquish comes from Old French vainquir, from Latin vincere ('to conquer, overcome'); the form was influenced by Old French vencus, the past participle of veintre. The historical chain includes Old French vainquir and Latin vincere. The quoted older sense, "to conquer, overcome," supplies the immediate semantic anchor for vanquish. The formation is best read as participial and borrowed: the word vanquish carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to defeat thoroughly in battle or competition". English derivatives include vanquisher, vanquished, and vanquishment; related English forms include victor and convince. The result is a verb whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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