Vanquishes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Overcomes an opponent or enemy decisively in a fight or competition
2. Triumphs over a rival or adversary with total success
3. Conquers or wins against someone or something thoroughly in conflict

Etymology: "Vanquishes" is the third-person singular present form of "vanquish," so it simply describes one subject defeating an opponent, and the root word carries the history. That root came into Middle English as "venquysshen" or "vaynquisshen," borrowed from a conjugated form of the Old French "veincre," which itself descends from the Latin "vincere," meaning "to conquer" or "to overcome." The Latin root is the same one behind "victor," "victory," and "convince," which shows how closely these words are related. English borrowed the verb through French, so the spelling drifted: the "c" in "vanquish" is a French-influenced letter, while the "v" and "vinc" core remains clearly Latin in origin.

Synonyms: defeats, conquers

Antonyms: loses, yields