Sport Is Short for Disport, Meaning to Carry Away
Sport is competitive physical activity. The word is a clipping of an older one meaning amusement or diversion.
Sport is competitive physical activity, and more broadly any amusement. It is a shortening of *disport*, from Old French *desporter*, to carry away — meaning to divert the mind from work or care. The original sense was any pastime at all; the athletic narrowing came later. *Sporting* still keeps the old breadth: a *sporting chance* means a fair one, and to *sport* a hat means to display it cheerfully.
- Athletic competition. *Team sports.*
- Amusement (archaic). *In sport.*
- To display. *Sporting a new hat.*
- Sporting chance — a fair one. *A sporting chance.*
- Old French — *desporter*, to divert. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | sport | A sport. |
| Plural | sports | Sports. |
| Verb | sport | Sport a beard. |
| Adjective | sporting | Sporting. |
| Adjective | sporty | Sporty. |
- He plays three sports.Athletics.
- She was sporting a new coat.Display.
- Give him a sporting chance.Fairness.
The porter family
- Sport — from *disport*, to carry the mind away
- Transport — to carry across
- Export — to carry out
- Import — to carry in
- Report — to carry back
A shortening of *disport*, from Old French *desporter*, to divert or amuse, from *des-* plus *porter*, to carry.
What did sport originally mean?
Any diversion or amusement. The word is short for disport, meaning to carry the mind away from work or worry.
Why does sport mean to wear something?
From the old sense of displaying something for amusement or show, which survives in sporting a hat or a moustache.