As a noun, a match is a contest between people or teams, or a small stick that starts a fire when struck. As a verb, to match means to be equal to something or to go well together.
From Old English “mæcca” meaning 'companion' or 'one of a pair', which later came to mean an equal or rival. The sense of a game or contest grew from the idea of two equals facing each other. The fire-stick meaning comes from a different source: Middle French “meche” meaning 'wick', later applied to the little stick used to light fires.
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