tournament, n.
(ˈtʊənəmənt)
Forms: α. 3 tornei-, 3–5 torne-, 4–7 tornea-, 5–7 tornament. β. 3–5 turne-, 4–8 turna-, 5–6 turnei-, turney-, 7 turneament. γ. (5 tournoy-), 5–7 tourne-, 7 tournea-, 6– tournament. (Also 4–6 -mente, pl. 3–5 -mens.)
[a. OF. torneiement (Enéas, c 1150), torney-, tornee-, torniement; central and later OF. tornoie-, tornoiment, tournoie-, tournoyement; also turnoie-, turneie-, turneement, f. tourneier, -oier, etc., tourney v.: see -ment. Cf. Pr. torneiament, It. tornia-, † torneamento; the later Eng. spellings tornea-, tourna- were app. due to the influence of med.L.
Cf. med.L. torneamentum (fr. Fr.), 1157 in Reims Synod, Canon iv, and 1179 in Lateran Council, Can. xx ‘detestabiles illas nundinas vel ferias, quas vulgo torneamenta vocant’.]
1. a. Originally, A martial sport or exercise of the middle ages, in which a number of combatants, mounted and in armour, and divided into two parties, fought with blunted weapons and under certain restrictions, for the prize of valour; later, A meeting at an appointed time and place for knightly sports and exercises.
According to Roger of Hoveden III. 268, first introduced into England by Richard I.
| α 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2896 In ioustes & in tornemens. Ibid. 11041 Sir edward..hauntede torneimens [v.r. (C.) turnemens] with wel noble route. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 3766 Þai ben come for a tornement Þat is cride for a maide faire. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 497/1 Torneament, torneamentum. 1612 Selden Illustr. Drayton's Poly-olb. iv. 70 Torneaments and jousts were their exercises. |
| β a 1225 Ancr. R. 390 He dude him ine turnement, & hefde uor his leofmonnes luue, his schelde ine uihte. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 821 He schal bring to þe turment [v.r. turnement] þat day (Wele is him þat it winne may) A gerfauk þat is milke white. Ibid. 829 Who so winneþ þe turnament al Bi aiþer half, þe priis have schal. c 1450 Merlin ix. 133 After they be-gonne a turnemente, and departed hem in two partyes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 1 That doughtie turnament. 1596 Ibid. iv. iv. 12 Against the Turneiment. Ibid. 13 Unto the place of Turneyment. a 1700 Dryden Theodore & Hon. 18 He..At tilts and turnaments obtained the prize, But found no favour in his lady's eyes. |
| γ 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. v. 41 Vpon newe yeersday the barons lete maake a Iustes and a tournement. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues 25/1 For suche ladies Ben the tournemens. 1485 ― Paris & V. 11 Ioustes and tournoyment doon in his cyte of vyenne. 1552 Huloet, Tournamente or iuste. 1656 Blount Glossogr. (1674), Tournement, or Tourneament. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 291 A cuirass used by the elector Augustus in tournaments. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. i. 103 Every kind of military combat made in conformity to certain rules..was anciently called a tournament. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages ix. ii. (1819) III. 502 Tournaments..may be considered to have arisen about the middle of the eleventh century; for..the name of tournaments, and the laws that regulated them, cannot be traced any higher. 1841 James Brigand i, Henry the Second [of France]..closed his career in the last tournament [1559] which Europe was destined to witness. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 489/1 Tournaments and jousts differed from one another principally in the circumstance that in the first several combatants on each side were engaged.., and in the second the contention was between two combatants only. |
b. A modern imitation of the mediæval pastime.
| 1701 Lond. Gaz. No. 3734/2 The Imperial Court continues at the Palace at Favorita, where they were entertained yesterday with a Turnament. 1839 Ld. Cockburn Jrnl. (1874) I. 239 In August last the display called the Tournament took place at Eglinton Castle. |
c. Applied to the Olympic and other ancient games or contests.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 11 After þe strif, ioustes, and turnementis of Olympy. Ibid. II. 381 Theseus..slowȝ Minotaurus in þe tornemente [in agone interemit]. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 703 Severus..His body was..committed to the flames, honoured with Justs and Turneaments of his souldiers and his owne sonnes. 1866 Felton Anc. & Mod. Gr. II. v. 358 They..utterly disappeared from the face of Hellas, with their language, their manners, their jousts and tournaments. |
2. fig. An encounter or trial of strength.
| 1638 Bp. Reynolds Peace Ch. 31 Happy..the Church of God, when curious novelties, and as it were Tourneaments in sacred things are esteemed prophane. 1659 Gentl. Calling (1696) 118 They keep, as it were, solemn Justs and Turnaments of Debauchery. 1901 Empire Rev. I. 370 When this dogmatic tournament has spent its force. 1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana xx, In the rose-gardens below, the nightingales were holding a tournament of song. |
3. transf. A contest in any game of skill in which a number of competitors play a series of selective games,
e.g. a
chess or
lawn tennis tournament.
military tournament or
naval tournament, an athletic meeting at which there are a large proportion of contests especially adapted for soldiers or sailors.
| 1761 Ann. Reg. 152 A naval tournament, or race upon the waters, resembling those practised at Venice in the carnival season. 1852 H. Staunton (title) The Chess Tournament. A collection of the games played at this celebrated assemblage. 1869 in J. D. Heath Croquet-Player (1874) 95 N.C.C. Open tournament at Highgate (6 inch hoops). 1872 R. C. A. Prior Croquet. 55 The Gardener's Chronicle announced last year a ‘Potato Tournament’. 1885 Sat. Rev. 24 Jan. 113 If..the old Counties Chess Association..holds its tournaments in the provinces. 1888 Daily News 15 Sept. 3/5 Lawn Tennis. The Essex Open Tournament was resumed yesterday at the Connaught Grounds. |
4. Math. A set of points each of which is joined to every other point by a line having a direction. Also
tournament graph.
| 1959 F. Harary in Management Sci. V. 398 Consider a tournament in which there are n players, every pair of players play each other once, and none of the games ends in a draw. For brevity let us call the resulting digraph D itself a tournament. 1972 R. J. Wilson Introd. Graph Theory vii. 108 Let T be a tournament on n + 1 vertices, and let T{p} be the tournament on n vertices obtained by removing from T a vertex v and every arc incident to v. 1980 Sci. Amer. Mar. 18/3 Tournament graphs provide a convenient means of modeling a person's pairwise preferences for any set of choices, such as brands of coffee or candidates in an election. |
5. attrib.| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lii, It had been a Cistercian Convent in old days, when the Smithfield, which is contiguous to it, was a tournament ground. 1902 Munsey's Mag. XXVI. 476/2 When the skater has become proficient in all of them, he is ready to proceed to the simpler combinations of the tournament figures. |
Hence
ˈtournament v. intr. (
nonce-wd.), to ride as in a tournament, to tilt;
tournaˈmental a., of or pertaining to a tournament;
† ˌtournamenˈteer Obs. rare, a combatant at tournaments.
| 1884 J. Sharman Hist. Swearing i. 10 They bestrode chairs and benches,..and *tournamented about the room. |
| 1801 Strutt Sports & Past, iii. i. 127 When the grand *tournamental conflict was finished. 1896 Daily News 28 May 3/1 The rumour..that there was tournamental antagonism between the Navy and Army. |
| 1737 Ozell Rabelais II. 221 Great Tilters and *Turnamenteers. |