Versus definition
The plaintiff versus the defendant; Michigan versus Ohio State.
Plaintiff versus defendant.
Peace versus war.
An example of versus used as a preposition is in the phrase "the red team versus the blue team."
Origin of versus
- Middle English from Medieval Latin from Latin turned, toward from past participle of vertere to turn wer-2 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Latin versus (“against, turned”), past participle of vertere (“to turn, change, overthrow, destroy”).
From Wiktionary