contrario

Forms

contrario (feminine contraria, masculine plural contrari, feminine plural contrarie, superlative contrarissimo)^[1] Old Italian also had contraro (Guittone, Dante, Fazio degli Uberti) and Old Italian contradio (Malispini, Boccaccio), also Old Italian contrado.^[2][1][3] The TLIO lists northern forms such as ⟨contrar⟩ and ⟨contraio⟩.^[4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin contrārius (“opposite, facing; hostile”), from the accusative ⟨contrārium⟩.^[5][6][7][8] The Latin adjective is contrā (“against, opposite”) with the suffix -ārius.^[9][1] De Vaan explains the preposition from an adjective Proto-Italic *kom-tero- (“the other of two who meet”), an Italic formation on Proto-Indo-European *ḱom- (“with”), and Oscan contrud has the same form.^[10]

The same learned word is French contraire, recorded from the 12th century, Old Occitan contrari, Spanish contrario and Portuguese contrário.^[11][8][6] The derivatives contrariare and contrarietà go back to Late Latin contrariāre and contrarietās.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the noun, “a contrary or opposite thing”, in Gerardo Patecchio in the 12th century, and the adjective, “in opposition, conflicting”, in Brunetto Latini, who died in 1294.^[5][7] The TLIO's first quotation is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word was used in philosophy for opposed elements and their qualities, and for what does harm or works against someone's wishes, hostile, and as a noun for an obstacle, harm or hostile act.^[4] In the 13th century it could also mean an insult or mockery.^[8] Dante compares the wind of the second circle of Hell to a sea that mugghia come fa mar per tempesta, / se da contrari venti è combattuto (“roars as the sea does in a storm when it is fought over by opposing winds”).^[12][3] The senses “adversity” and “enemy” are now obsolete.^[7][13]

Modern Italian also uses the word in logic for two universal propositions, one affirmative and one negative, in mathematics for numbers of equal value and opposite sign, and in linguistics for an antonym.^[7][14][15] Among the derivatives, contrariato (annoyed) is recorded in 1797 and contrariare for “to annoy” in 1844.^[5]

Timeline

• 12th century – Gerardo Patecchio uses the noun.^[5]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses contrariare.^[5]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the adjective.^[5]
• 1304 – Giordano da Pisa uses contrarietà.^[5]
• 1797 – D'Alberti records contrariato “annoyed”.^[5]
• 1844 – Contrariare is recorded for “to annoy”.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Opposite, conflicting (often + a): Su questo punto abbiamo opinioni contrarie.^[7][14][16]
2. Going in the opposite direction: La barca avanzava a fatica col vento contrario.^[7][14][16]
3. Opposed, against (+ a), or unfavourable, adverse: Il sindaco si è detto contrario al progetto.^[7][14][16]
4. Harmful: un cibo contrario alla salute.^[7][3]
5. (logic) Of two universal propositions with the same subject and predicate, one affirmative and one negative.^[7][14][15]
6. (mathematics) Of two numbers, equal in value and opposite in sign.^[14][15]

Noun

1. The opposite, the reverse: Fa sempre il contrario di quello che gli si chiede.^[7][14][16]
2. (linguistics) An antonym.^[7][16][13]
3. A person who is against something, especially in a vote.^[7]
4. (archaic) Adversity, misfortune, or an enemy.^[7][16][13]

Word family

• contrariare
• contrarietà
• contrariato
• incontrario
• all'incontrario
• contrariamente

Related words

• contra-
• contro
• contro-
• Latin contrarius
• French contraire

Usage notes

Common phrases are al contrario (on the contrary, the other way round), avere qualcosa in contrario (to have an objection), in caso contrario (otherwise) and fino a prova contraria (until proven otherwise).^[7][13][15] A Bastian contrario is someone who always disagrees on principle.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 326
3. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
4. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse