versus

[ vur-suhs, -suhz ]

preposition

1. against (used especially to indicate an action brought by one party against another in a court of law, or to denote competing teams or players in a sports contest):

   Smith versus Jones; Army versus Navy.

2. as compared to or as one of two choices; in contrast with: : v., vs.

   traveling by plane versus traveling by train.

versus

/ ˈvɜːsəs /

preposition

1. (esp in a competition or lawsuit) against; in opposition to vesp USvs
2. as opposed to; in contrast with

Word History and Origins

Origin of versus¹

First recorded in 1400–50; Late Middle English, from Latin: literally, “towards,” i.e., “turned so as to face (something), opposite, over against,” originally past participle of vertere “to turn”; verse

Word History and Origins

Origin of versus¹

C15: from Latin: turned (in the direction of), opposite, from vertere to turn

Example Sentences

“You’re gonna have to pick the rogue ICC versus America.”

From Salon

You can also find out what percentage of donations go to the cause versus overhead costs.

From Los Angeles Times

"Essentially, if you just use the Golgi apparatus as a simple marker, if T-cells have a lot of Golgi versus less, the ones that have more Golgi are much more robust at killing tumor cells and controlling tumors," Oberholtzer explained.

From Science Daily

They then measured the actual amounts of choline and iodine in their lab versus what was on the label and also checked for arsenic, lead and cadmium.

From Science Daily

The teacher who had an angry outburst at Chino High School also shared frustrations about the differing rules for teacher versus student clothing.

From Los Angeles Times