In the paper the author considered the evolution of scientific approaches of academic economists concerning determination of the concept of "competition", which reveal its theoretical and practical essence. The development of competition allowed the introduction of a number of derivative terms into the economic turnover, one of which is competitiveness. The concept of "competitiveness" was reviewed, the essence of which is revealed depending on the object of identification, purpose and type of competition and some special characteristics which indicate its multidimensionality and hierarchy. It was determined that depending on the level of objects functioning the competitiveness of products, enterprises (micro level); industry, region (meso level); country (macro level) are distinguished. Since the enterprise is a major element of market economy, a high level of the enterprise competitiveness allows creating a competitive economy of the region, industry and country as a whole. Therefore, the author's attention is paid to the competitiveness. Based on the comparative analysis of theoretical definitions of the "enterprise competitiveness" such approaches to its understanding as ability, capacity, performance characteristics, competitive advantage of the enterprise were selected, which were the basis of their grouping. The study allowed the author to define her vision of the category of the "enterprise competitiveness".