opposition

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌɒp.əˈzɪʃ.ən/, US /ˌɑː.pəˈzɪʃ.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English opposicioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French oposicion (12th century),^[2][4] and directly from Latin oppositiō (“act of opposing, a placing against”),^[2][4][3] from the past participle stem of opponere “to set against”,^[2][5] from ob “in front of, in the way of” and ponere “to put, place”.^[2] It is related to oppose, opposite and position.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In astrology and astronomy, the position of two heavenly bodies exactly opposite each other: about 1386 in the OED,^[6] about 1395 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, the position of something facing or confronting another, is from about 1400.^[2] In rhetoric a contrary argument is from between 1412 and 1420.^[6] Something opposite is from the 1540s,^[2] contrast or contradistinction from 1581,^[4][6] and hostile action or antagonism from 1588, in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.^[4][2] In logic, the relation between two propositions with the same terms is from 1697.^[6] A body of opponents, especially the political party opposed to the one in power, is from 1704.^[4][2]

Timeline

• c. 1386 – of heavenly bodies.^[6]
• c. 1400 – a facing position.^[2]
• 1581 – contrast.^[4][6]
• 1588 – resistance, antagonism.^[4]
• 1697 – in logic.^[6]
• 1704 – the political opposition.^[4][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of opposing or resisting; disagreement or hostility.
2. The people one is competing against; an opponent or rival team.
3. A political party or group opposed to the one in power, in Britain the largest such party.
4. Placement opposite to, or in contrast with, something else.
5. (astronomy, astrology) The position of two heavenly bodies exactly opposite each other as seen from the Earth.

Word family

• oppositional
• oppositionless
• nonopposition
• oppositionist
• leader of the opposition
• square of opposition

Related words

• oppose
• opposite
• position
• opponent

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 g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press