- in contest against: plaintiff versus defendant
- in contrast with; by way of an alternative to: peace versus war
Origin of versus
Medieval Latin from L, toward, turned in the direction of from vertere, to turn: see verse
preposition
Versus is defined as in contrast to or opposing.
An example of versus used as a preposition is in the phrase "the red team versus the blue team."
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"versus." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Versus>.
APA Style
versus. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Versus
versus
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"versus." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Versus>.
APA Style
versus. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Versus
versus
preposition
- Abbr. v. or vs. In conflict or competition with; against: the plaintiff versus the defendant; Michigan versus Ohio State.
- As the alternative to or in contrast with: “freedom of information versus invasion of privacy” ( Ian Hamilton )
Origin of versus
Middle English from Medieval Latin from Latin turned, toward from past participle of vertere to turn ; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"versus." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Versus>.
APA Style
versus. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Versus
Conjunction
- Used to link two or more opposing or contrasting elements.
Preposition
- against, in opposition to.
- It is the Packers versus the Steelers in the Super Bowl.
- compared with, as opposed to.
- Bringing a legal action against, as used in the title of a court case in which the first party indicates the plaintiff (appellant or the like), and the second indicates the defendant (respondent or the like).
- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.
Origin
From Latin versus (“against, turned”), past participle of vertere (“to turn, change, overthrow, destroy”).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"versus." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Versus>.
APA Style
versus. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Versus
Sentence Examples
- Sudden versus Gradual Evolution of Parts.
- The date of these additions, and of the Versus, is of no importance, as their statements are incredible.
- While still an undergraduate he formed a league with John Herschel and Charles Babbage, to conduct the famous struggle of "d-ism versus dot-age," which ended in the introduction into Cambridge of the continental notation in the infinitesimal calculus to the exclusion of the fluxional notation of Sir Isaac Newton.
- Lucy, The Molly Maguires of Pennsylvania; (London, n.d.); The Commonwealth versus John Kehoe et al.
- Another state could do so, however, and in 1904, certain creditors having given ten of their bonds to South Dakota, the case of South Dakota versus North Carolina came before the Supreme Court.
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