Election Language, 2: "Rivals"

       Candidates differing from one another in their candor and other qualities is what makes "rivals" in political competition.  And whence cometh "rivals" from the Latin source bag?

       Rivalis means “one using the same stream as another.”   It comes from rivus, “stream” or “rivulet.”  People who dwelled by the same source for water, cooking, bathing, and so on might indeed become contentious with one another over that life-giving, cleansing, and beautiful liquid, become, in fact, rivals.

       Rivus goes back further to Indo-European rei-, meaning “to flow, run.”  And the word “run” itself is also derivative from that root rei-.  So get a couple "candidates" together, turn them into "rivals," and they’ll “run” for office.