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Today it means

versus

against, especially in a legal case or sports contest

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Where does the word "versus" come from? It comes from Latin versus, and was adopted directly into English (1440s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "versus" come from? It comes from Latin versus, and was adopted directly into English (1440s).

Versus’s story begins in Latin: versus meant “toward, against.” 'turned toward', from 'vertere', to turn; later 'against'. It reached English by 1440s as versus. Used in naming law cases, abbreviated 'v.' or 'vs.'. Today, versus means against, especially in a legal case or sports contest.

  1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient versus "toward, against", 'turned toward', from 'vertere', to turn; later 'against'.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1440s versus "against", used in naming law cases, abbreviated 'v.' or 'vs.'.

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