a noble jealousy, between persons of virtue, or learning, contending for the superiority therein.—The word comes originally from the Greek, ἐμπάθεια, dispute, contest; whence the Latin *emula*, and thence our *emulation*.

Plato observes of emulation, that it is the daughter of envy. If so, there is a deal of difference between the mother and the offspring: the one is a virtue, and the other a vice. Emulation admires great actions, and strives to imitate them; envy refuses them the praises that are their due: emulation is generous, and only thinks of surpassing a rival; envy is low, and only seeks to lessen him.