contraire

Forms

contraire (plural contraires)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin contrārius (“opposite, facing; hostile; contradictory”), derived from contrā (“against”) (see contre).^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Compare Old Occitan contrari, Spanish contrario and Italian contrario.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) the noun means a hostile act, harm or wrong done to someone: Je t'en mouvrai un tel si grant contraire; this sense lived only in the Middle Ages.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Modern usage favoured the idea of opposition over that of hostility.^[3] Vent contraire is in Wace (1160–74), and the adjective “completely opposed” and the noun tot le contreire in Chrétien de Troyes (about 1175).^[2] Medicine spoke of curing one contrary by another (about 1393).^[2] Au contraire is found in Oresme (about 1370), in the sense “conversely” in Commynes (1495), and au contraire de about 1450.^[2][3] In Belgian French que du contraire means “quite the contrary”.^[3] Contrairement, dropped in the 17th century, came back in the 19th with contrairement à (1821).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – A wrong, Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1160–74 – Vent contraire, Wace.^[2]
• c. 1175 – “Opposite”, tot le contreire, Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• c. 1370 – Au contraire, Oresme.^[2]
• c. 1450 – Au contraire de.^[2]
• 1821 – Contrairement à.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Opposite, contrary: des opinions contraires, dans le sens contraire, contraire à, against: contraire au règlement.^[9][10]
2. Coming from the opposite direction: vent contraire.^[11][7]
3. Harmful, unfavourable: le vin lui est contraire.^[11][1]

Noun

1. The opposite: c'est tout le contraire, (linguistics) an antonym.^[10][1]
2. Au contraire: on the contrary, au contraire de, unlike.^[2][9]

Word family

• contrairement

Related words

• contre
• contrarier
• contrariété
• a contrario
• Latin contrārius

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1120b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse