# rival
## English
### Etymology

From Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”), from rīvus (“small stream, brook”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɹaɪvəl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɪvəl

### Noun

rival (plural rivals)
* A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.
    Chris is my biggest rival in the 400-metre race.
** 1983, “Karma Chameleon”, in Colour by Numbers, performed by Culture Club:Every day is like survival / You're my lover, not my rival
** 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you […] "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
* Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
    As a social historian, he has no rival.
* (obsolete) One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.
** c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.

#### Hyponyms

* rivaless

#### Derived terms

* rivaless
* rivalry
* archrival, arch-rival

#### Related terms

* rivulet

#### Translations

Albanian: rival (sq) m, kundërshtar (sq) m
Arabic: مُنَافِس m (munāfis)
Armenian: մրցակից (hy) (mrcʻakicʻ), հակառակորդ (hy) (hakaṙakord)
Azerbaijani: rəqib (az)
Belarusian: супе́рнік m (supjérnik), супе́рніца f (supjérnica), сапе́рнік m (sapjérnik), сапе́рніца f (sapjérnica), супраці́ўнік m (supracíŭnik), супраці́ўніца f (supracíŭnica), канкурэ́нт m (kankurént), канкурэ́нтка f (kankuréntka), су́пар m (súpar), су́парка f (súparka)
Bengali: প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী (bn) (protiddonddi)
Bulgarian: съпе́рник (bg) m (sǎpérnik), съпе́рница f (sǎpérnica), съпе́рничка f (sǎpérnička); проти́вник (bg) m (protívnik), проти́вница f (protívnica), проти́вничка f (protívnička), конкуре́нт (bg) m (konkurént), конкуре́нтка f (konkuréntka)
Burmese: အပြိုင် (my) (a.pruing), ယှဉ်ဖက် (my) (hyanyhpak)
Catalan: rival (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 對手 / 对手 (zh) (duìshǒu), 敵手 / 敌手 (zh) (díshǒu)
Czech: soupeř (cs) m, soupeřka f, sok (cs) m, sokyně (cs) f, rival (cs) m, rivalka (cs) f
Danish: rival c
Dutch: tegenstander (nl), rivaal (nl), concurent, vijand (nl)
Egyptian: (msdw)
Esperanto: rivalo
Estonian: võistleja, rivaal
Finnish: kilpailija (fi)
French: rival (fr) m, rivale (fr) f
Georgian: მეტოქე (meṭoke), რაყიფი (raq̇ipi) (archaic)
German: Gegner (de) m, Rivale (de) m, Konkurrent (de) m, Gegnerin (de) f, Rivalin (de) f, Konkurrentin (de) f
Greek: αντίζηλος (el) m (antízilos), ανταγωνιστής (el) m (antagonistís)
Ancient: ἀντίπαλος m (antípalos), ἀγωνιστής m (agōnistḗs)
Hebrew: יָרִיב (he) m (yarív), מִתְחָרֶה m (mitkhare)
Higaonon: pag-agawan
Hindi: प्रतिद्वंद्वी (hi) m (pratidvandvī), प्रतियोगी (hi) m (pratiyogī), प्रतिरोधी (hi) m (pratirodhī), प्रतिवादी (hi) m (prativādī), प्रतिस्पर्धी m (pratispardhī)
Hungarian: rivális (hu), vetélytárs (hu)
Indonesian: lawan (id), penentang (id), musun
Italian: rivale (it) m, competitore (it), antagonista (it) m, avversario (it)
Japanese: 好敵手 (ja) (こうてきしゅ, kōtekishu), 宿敵 (しゅくてき, shukuteki), ライバル (ja) (raibaru)
Kazakh: қарсылас (qarsylas)
Khmer: គូប្រជែង (kuu prɑcɛɛng)
Korean: 경쟁자 (ko) (gyeongjaengja), 라이벌 (ko) (raibeol)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: reqîb (ku), hevrik (ku)
Kyrgyz: атаандаш (ky) (ataandaş)
Lao: ຄູ່ແຂ່ງ (khū khǣng)
Latin: aemulus m, aemula m, rīvālis m
Latvian: sāncensis m, konkurents m
Lithuanian: varžovas m, konkurentas m
Macedonian: соперник m (sopernik), соперничка f (sopernička), ривал m (rival), ривалка f (rivalka)
Malay: saingan, lawan (ms)
Maori: wheinga, hoa kakari
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: өрсөлдөгч (mn) (örsöldögč)
Mongolian: ᠥᠷᠢᠰᠦᠯᠳᠦᠭᠴᠢ (örisüldüɣči)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: rival (no) m
Pashto: رقيب (ps) m (raqíb), حريف (ps) m (haríf), سيال (ps) m (sayāl)
Persian: رقیب (fa) (raqib), حریف (fa) (harif)
Polish: rywal (pl), rywalka (pl) f, konkurent (pl) m, konkurentka (pl) f
Portuguese: rival (pt) m or f, adversário (pt) m, competidor (pt) m
Romanian: rival (ro), rivală (ro) f
Russian: сопе́рник (ru) m (sopérnik), сопе́рница (ru) f (sopérnica), проти́вник (ru) m (protívnik), проти́вница (ru) f (protívnica), (in business) конкуре́нт (ru) m (konkurént), конкуре́нтка (ru) f (konkuréntka)
Scottish Gaelic: co-fharpaiseach m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: су̀па̄рнӣк m, су̀па̄рница f, про̀тӣвнӣк m, pròtīvnica (sh) f, рѝва̄л m, рѝва̄лка f, конку̀рент m, конку̀рентица f
Roman: sùpārnīk (sh) m, sùpārnica (sh) f, pròtīvnīk (sh) m, pròtīvnica (sh) f, rìvāl (sh) m, rìvālka (sh) f, konkùrent (sh) m, konkùrentica (sh) f
Slovak: súper m, súperka f, sok m, sokyňa f, rival m, rivalka f
Slovene: tekmec m, tekmica f, konkurent m, konkurentka f
Spanish: rival (es) m
Swedish: rival (sv) c, konkurrent (sv) c
Tagalog: kaagaw
Tajik: рақиб (raqib), ҳариф (harif)
Thai: คู่แข่ง (th) (kûu-kɛ̀ng)
Turkish: rakip (tr)
Turkmen: garşydaş
Ukrainian: супе́рник m (supérnyk), супе́рниця f (supérnycja), проти́вник (uk) m (protývnyk), проти́вниця f (protývnycja), конкуре́нт m (konkurént), конкуре́нтка f (konkuréntka)
Urdu: رقیب m (raqīb), حریف m (harīf)
Uyghur: رەقىب (reqib)
Uzbek: raqib (uz), harif (uz)
Vietnamese: đối thủ (vi), địch thủ (vi) :

### Adjective

rival (not comparable)
* Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.
    rival lovers; rival claims or pretensions
** 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen.

#### Derived terms

* rivalrous

#### Translations
### Verb

rival (third-person singular simple present rivals, present participle rivalling or rivaling, simple past and past participle rivalled or rivaled)
* (transitive) To oppose or compete with.
    to rival somebody in love
* To be equal to, or match, or to surpass another.
** 1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 1:But the Waverley is still the best-placed station of any British city, and gives the arriving stranger a first impression rivalled in Europe only by the exclusively watery station approach at Venice.
** 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, […] .
* To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.
** 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:to rival thunder in its rapid course

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* Avril, arvil, viral

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rīvālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [riˈβal]
* IPA: (Balearic, Valencia) [riˈval]

### Adjective

rival m or f (masculine and feminine plural rivals)
* rival

#### Derived terms

* rivalitzar

#### Related terms

* riu
* rivalitat

### Noun

rival m or f by sense (plural rivals)
* rival

### Further reading

* “rival” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “rival”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “rival” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “rival” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Czech
### Etymology

Borrowed from German Rival.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈrɪval]

### Noun

rival m anim (female equivalent rivalka)
* rival, competitor, opponent
    sportovní rivalové. ― sports rivals.

#### Related terms

* rivalita
* rivalizovat
* rivalský
* rivalství

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”), from rīvus (“small stream, brook”). Unrelated to rive.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʁi.val/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

rival (feminine rivale, masculine plural rivaux, feminine plural rivales)
* (relational) rival

### Noun

rival m (plural rivaux, feminine rivale)
* rival

#### Descendants

* → Norwegian Bokmål: rival

### Further reading

* “rival”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* avril, livra, viral

## German
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ʁiˈvaːl]
* Hyphenation: ri‧val

### Adjective

rival (strong nominative masculine singular rivaler, not comparable)
* (economics, of a good) rivalrous
** 2012, Michael Goldhammer, Geistiges Eigentum und Eigentumstheorie, Mohr Siebeck, page 196:Als zweites Argument gegen die Möglichkeit von geistigem Eigentum wird häufig vorgebracht, dass immaterielle Güter ihrer Natur nach nicht rival seien […]As a second argument against the possibility of intellectual property, it is often brought forward that immaterial goods are not rivalrous by nature

#### Declension
## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From French rival (“rival”), from Latin rīvālis (“of or pertaining to a brook; rival”), from rīvus (“brook; channel”), from Proto-Italic *rīwos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃riH-wó-s, from *h₃reyH- (“to move, flow”), from *h₃er- (“to move, stir”).

### Noun

rival m (definite singular rivalen, indefinite plural rivaler, definite plural rivalene)
* a rival

#### Derived terms

* erkerival

### References

* “rival” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Latin rivalis, via French rival.

### Noun

rival m (definite singular rivalen, indefinite plural rivalar, definite plural rivalane)
* a rival

#### Derived terms

* erkerival

### References

* “rival” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Portuguese
### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ʁiˈvaw/ [hiˈvaʊ̯]
* (Brazil) IPA: /ʁiˈvaw/ [hiˈvaʊ̯]
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /ʁiˈvaw/ [χiˈvaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ʁiˈval/ [ʁiˈvaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ʁiˈval/ [ʁiˈvaɫ]
** (Northern Portugal) IPA: /ʁiˈbal/ [ʁiˈβaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /ʁiˈva.li/
* Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
* Hyphenation: ri‧val

### Noun

rival m or f by sense (plural rivais)
* rival (competitor with the same objective)
    Synonyms: adversário, oponente

### Adjective

rival m or f (plural rivais)
* rival (standing in competition)

#### Related terms

* rio

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French rival, from Latin rivalis.

### Noun

rival m (plural rivali)
* rival

#### Declension
## Serbo-Croatian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /rǐʋaːl/
* Hyphenation: ri‧val

### Noun

rìvāl m (Cyrillic spelling рѝва̄л)
* rival, adversary

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Etymology

From Latin rīvālis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /riˈbal/ [riˈβ̞al]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: ri‧val

### Adjective

rival m or f (masculine and feminine plural rivales)
* rival
* adverse
    Synonym: adverso

### Noun

rival m or f by sense (plural rivales)
* rival
    Synonyms: adversario, antagonista, competidor, contrario, oponente

#### Derived terms

* archirrival
* rivalizar

#### Related terms

* rivalidad

### Further reading

* “rival”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Latin rivalis, via French rival.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

rival c
* rival

#### Related terms

* rivalitet

### Further reading

* rival in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
* rival in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

### Anagrams

* vilar