köken: Learned borrowing from Latin candidātus (“a person who is standing for public office”), from candidus (“candid, white”), in reference to Roman candidates wearing bleached white togas as a symbol of purity at a public forum.
köken: Etymology tree Arabic رَقَبَ (raqaba) Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb)bor. Persian رَقِیب Borrowed from Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb), from رَقَبَ (raqaba). The semantic shift is already found in medieval poetry: "guardian of the beloved [who prevents the lover from seeing her]" > "rival in love" > "rival, competitor [in general]."
بر رقیبان افکنی هر دم نظر حیف و دریغ اینچنین ضایع چه میسازی نگاه خویش را
male rival, male contender, male competitor, male emulator
çekim: çoğul съпе́рници
köken: Ultimately derived from Proto-Slavic *sǫpьrьnikъ, spread via the literary language. Diachronically, possibly borrowed from Russian сопе́рник (sopérnik). Synchronically, an agent noun of obsolete съ́пря се (sǎ́prja se, “to altercate”) + -ник (-nik).