contra

Forms

contra^[1] Houaiss records cõtra in the 13th century and comtrra in 1499.^[2] The medieval language also had escontra, which Feijó still lists.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin contrā (“opposite, against”), written Old Galician-Portuguese contra in the oldest texts.^[2][5][1] The Latin word is the ablative singular feminine of *komteros (“the other of two who meet, opposite”) formed from *kom with a contrastive suffix, and so related to cum (“with”).^[1][6] De Vaan traces the first part to Proto-Indo-European *ḱom- (“with”).^[6]

The same Latin word is Galician contra, Spanish contra, Catalan contra, Occitan contra, French contre, Italian contro and Romanian către.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A law of 1211, printed in the Portugaliae Monumenta Historica, has contra esta nossa costetiçom “against this our constitution”.^[8] In the cantigas it means “against” and also “towards, in the direction of” and “with regard to” (contra ela, que servi sempr' e amei “towards her, whom I always served and loved”).^[9][3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval word kept the Latin sense of facing or moving towards something, beside opposition: tornar contra was to turn towards.^[3][9] Bluteau in 1712 explains it as a preposition of opposition, enmity and repugnance, the sense that has come to dominate.^[10] Morais in 1813 records it as a noun, an objection or reply, and Figueiredo in 1899 also as an adverb.^[11][12] Modern senses include contact (contra a parede), exchange (contra recibo), and in football gol contra “own goal”.^[2][13] As a prefix, contra- forms words of opposition such as contraveneno and contragosto.^[5]

Timeline

• 1211 – contra esta nossa costetiçom in a law.^[8]
• 13th century – contra and cõtra.^[2][5]
• 1301–1400 – contra in the Trasladação de S. Nicolau.^[14]
• 1499 – the spelling comtrra.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates it with Latin adversus.^[15]
• 1813 – Morais records the noun contra “objection”, and calls it old or little used.^[11]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records contra “antidote” as a Brazilian noun.^[12]

Meanings

Preposition

1. against, in opposition to or in a fight with: uma campanha contra a fome.^[2][16][1]
2. In the direction opposite to: nadar contra a corrente.^[2][17]
3. Towards, with force: A bicicleta foi contra uma árvore.^[2][18]
4. Against a support, in contact with: Encostou a escada contra a parede.^[2][13]
5. As a protection from, or a remedy for: uma pomada contra as queimaduras.^[2]
6. Facing, opposite.^[2][18]
7. Having as an opponent: jogar contra o campeão.^[2]
8. In disagreement with: agir contra as regras do clube.^[2][19]
9. In proportion of, in betting: dez contra um.^[2]
10. In exchange for: entrega contra recibo.^[2][13]

Adverb

1. Against, unfavourably: Votaram contra.^[2][20]

Noun

1. A drawback, an obstacle; mostly in the plural, in os prós e os contras “the pros and cons”.^[2][13]
2. An objection, a refusal.^[2][11]

Adjective

1. (football) Against one's own side: gol contra “own goal”.^[2]

Related words

• contra-
• Latin contrā
• Spanish contra
• French contre

Usage notes

In informal Brazilian use ser do contra is to oppose every plan or idea by habit.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. contra
3. ^ a b c Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. contra
4. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. contra
5. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. contra
6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2187
8. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 473
9. ^ a b Lopes, Graça Videira; Ferreira, Manuel Pedro et al. (2011–), Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas [online database], Lisboa: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, FCSH/NOVA, https://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt, p. s.v. contra
10. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. contra
11. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 460
12. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. contra
13. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2401
14. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. contra
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. contra
16. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. contra
17. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. contra
18. ^ a b Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. contra
19. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. contra
20. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. contra