Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”). By surface analysis, Latin rīvus + -al.
1
A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.
Chris is my biggest rival in the 400-metre race.
Every day is like survival / You're my lover, not my rival1983, “Karma Chameleon”, in Colour by Numbers, performed by Culture Club:
1 more example
The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you[…] "share the things you love with the world" and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
2
Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
As a social historian, he has no rival.
3
Obsolete One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.
If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”). By surface analysis, Latin rīvus + -al.
1
Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.
rival lovers
rival claims or pretensions
2 more examples
The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
Japan’s largest yakuza crime syndicate has pledged to end its longstanding war with a rival faction and refrain from causing “trouble,” authorities said, as the mafia-like groups contend with falling membership and increased police crackdowns.2025 April 11, Junko Ogura, Helen Regan, “Japan’s biggest Yakuza crime group pledges to end decade-long gang war”, in CNN, archived from the original on 09 May 2025:
Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin rīvālis (literally “person using the same stream as another”). By surface analysis, Latin rīvus + -al.
1
To oppose or compete with.
to rival somebody in love
2
To be equal to, or match, or to surpass another.
But the Waverley is still the best-placed station of any British city, and gives the arriving stranger a first impression rivalled in Europe only by the exclusively watery station approach at Venice.1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 1:
The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, […].1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
3
To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.
to rival thunder in its rapid course1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC: