vanquish

English

Etymology

From Middle English venquysshen, vaynquisshen, borrowed from a conjugated form of Old French veincre, from Latin vincō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvæŋkwɪʃ/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

vanquish (third-person singular simple present vanquishes, present participle vanquishing, simple past and past participle vanquished)

1. (transitive) To defeat (someone); to overcome.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 98, column 2:

     In ſingle Combat thou ſhalt buckle vvith me; / And if thou vanquiſheſt, thy vvords are true, / Othervviſe I renounce all confidence.

   • 1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the Reformation; , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Theater, →OCLC:

     This bold assertion has been so fully vanquish'd in a late reply to the Bishop of Meaux's treatise.

   • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, →OCLC:

     They […] vanquished the rebels in all encounters.

Related terms

• convince
• evince
• victor

Translations