Competitivity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state of having a strong desire to excel involves a proactive approach towards outperforming others in various contexts
2. The quality of being inclined to strive for superiority, which includes a drive to outperform others in competitive environments and to achieve excellence in various fields
3. A characteristic reflecting the eagerness to succeed, which entails both the ambition to surpass rivals and the pursuit of higher standards in differing situations

Etymology: "Competitivity" is "competitive" with the suffix "-ity" added to it, and the suffix itself carries a long history. It descends from Latin "-itas", which turned adjectives into abstract nouns, so that "competitive" became a name for the quality of being competitive. That Latin suffix passed into Old French as "-ite" and then into Middle English as "-ite" before settling into the modern "-ity" spelling. The same suffix produced countless English nouns, such as "ability" and "security." The base adjective "competitive" is the more recent piece, formed from "compete" with the adjectival ending "-ive." "Competitivity" itself is a derived noun built from that adjective, so it reads as a plainly constructed term rather than an inherited one. Its meaning follows the same path as its parts: the suffix turns a quality into a thing you can name, and the result describes how strongly a person, firm, or nation is disposed to strive against others.

Synonyms: competitiveness, rivalry, contestability, market dynamics, competitive edge

Antonyms: non-competitiveness, cooperation, collaboration, harmony, peace