contrast

Pronunciation

• IPA: noun UK /ˈkɒn.trɑːst/, US /ˈkɑːn.træst/; verb UK /kənˈtrɑːst/, US /kənˈtræst/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French contraster, from Italian contrastare “to stand out against, strive”,^[2][3][4] from Medieval Latin contrāstāre,^[4][5] from Latin contrā (“against”) and stāre (“to stand”).^[2][3] It is related to contra and stand.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The modern verb is a term of art from 1695, in Dryden's translation of Dufresnoy's Art of Painting: to place forms or colours side by side so as to heighten their effect.^[3][6] An earlier verb contrest “to withstand, fight against”, from Old French contrester, is recorded from 1489 and became extinct.^[6][2][7]

Semantic evolution

The noun, contention or strife, is from 1597 and is obsolete.^[6][8][7] In the fine arts the noun is from 1711, from French contraste.^[3][6] General comparison of opposite things is by 1755,^[6] and a thing strikingly unlike another from 1764.^[2] In photography, the degree of difference between tones is from 1911.^[6]

Timeline

• 1489 – contrest, to withstand.^[6]
• 1597 – noun, strife.^[6][8]
• 1695 – verb, in painting.^[3][6]
• 1711 – noun, in art.^[3][6]
• 1764 – a striking difference.^[2]
• 1911 – photographic contrast.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An obvious difference between things that are compared.
2. A person or thing very unlike another.
3. The difference in brightness or colour between parts of a picture or screen.

Verb

1. To compare things in order to show their differences.
2. To be noticeably different from something.

Word family

• contrastable
• contrastingly
• contrastably
• contrasty
• contrastive
• contrast medium
• phase contrast microscope

Related words

• contra
• stand

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster