What does entrant mean?
An entrant is a person or thing that enters a contest, race, examination, or similar event — for example, one of the hundreds of entrants in a marathon or a piano competition. The word also extends beyond contests to describe anyone newly entering a sphere of activity: a new entrant to the job market, to a profession, or to a commercial marketplace. It carries a neutral-to-formal tone and is especially at home in administrative, journalistic, and sporting registers, where precision matters; organizers speak of 'the number of entrants' rather than the looser 'people taking part.' Derived from the verb 'enter' through Old French, it shares roots with 'entry' and 'entrance,' which makes it easy to remember but occasionally confused with those near-neighbors: an entry is what you submit, an entrance is where you come in, and an entrant is who comes in. Its plural, entrants, is standard.
A person or thing that enters a competition, race, examination, or similar contest.
"Judges received more than a thousand entrants in the photography competition."
Often used with numerals or quantifiers when reporting on the size of a field: '3,000 entrants.'
A person who newly enters a place, organization, profession, field of activity, or market.
"She was the youngest entrant ever admitted to the engineering program."
Common in economic and business journalism in the phrase 'new entrant to the market.'
Standard regular plural; very commonly used when discussing the total number of participants in a competition or new arrivals in a field.
"All entrants will be notified of the results by email."
The same Latin root that gives us 'entry' also gave English both its doors ('entrance') and its door-openers — and 'entrant' arrived via French before settling into English by the early 17th century.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of entrant
Entrant derives from the verb 'enter,' which English borrowed from Old French 'entrer,' itself from Latin 'intrare' ('to go into'), from 'intra' ('within'). The noun took shape in English in the early 17th century, formed on the pattern of French agent nouns ending in '-ant.' It belongs to the same family as 'entry' and 'entrance,' all ultimately descending from that Latin root for going within.
How entrant is actually used
'Entrant' is somewhat formal and appears most often in official contexts — competitions, examinations, immigration, and business reporting. In everyday speech, words like 'competitor' or 'newcomer' are more common. The plural 'entrants' is standard and frequently used when discussing fields of competitors.
Easily confused with entrant
An 'entry' is the act of entering or the item submitted (an application, form, or record), while an 'entrant' is the person or thing doing the entering.
An 'entrance' is a doorway or point of access (or the act of entering), whereas an 'entrant' is the individual who enters.