[əˈpəʊnənt], (Noun)

Definitions:
- someone who competes with or opposes another in a contest, game, or argument
(e.g: he beat his opponent by a landslide margin)


Phrases:

Origin:
late 16th century (denoting a person opening an academic debate by proposing objections to a philosophical or religious thesis): from Latin opponent- ‘setting against’, from the verb opponere, from ob- ‘against’ + ponere ‘place’