contraire French · revision 16571

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la contrā}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ̃.tʁɛːʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''contraire''' (plural contraires)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|contrārius|t=opposite, facing; hostile; contradictory]], derived from [[m|la|contrā|t=against]] (see [[contre]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 1120b)

+

+ Compare [[pro|contrari]], [[es|contrario]] and [[it|contrario]].^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Modern usage favoured the idea of opposition over that of hostility.^(DHLF 1992) ''Vent contraire'' is in Wace (1160–74), and the adjective “completely opposed” and the noun ''tot le contreire'' in Chrétien de Troyes (about 1175).^(TLFi) Medicine spoke of curing one contrary by another (about 1393).^(TLFi) ''Au contraire'' is found in Oresme (about 1370), in the sense “conversely” in Commynes (1495), and ''au contraire de'' about 1450.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In Belgian French ''que du contraire'' means “quite the contrary”.^(DHLF 1992) ''Contrairement'', dropped in the 17th century, came back in the 19th with ''contrairement à'' (1821).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – A wrong, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1160–74 – ''Vent contraire'', Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1175 – “Opposite”, ''tot le contreire'', Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1370 – ''Au contraire'', Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1450 – ''Au contraire de''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1821 – ''Contrairement à''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Opposite, [[m|en|contrary]]: ''des opinions contraires'', ''dans le sens contraire'', ''contraire à'', against: ''contraire au règlement''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Coming from the opposite direction: ''vent contraire''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+ # Harmful, unfavourable: ''le vin lui est contraire''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|opposite]]: ''c'est tout le contraire'', ''(linguistics)'' an [[m|en|antonym]].^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Au contraire'': on the contrary, ''au contraire de'', unlike.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contrairement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[contre]]

+ * [[contrarier]]

+ * [[contrariété]]

+ * [[a contrario]]

+ * [[la|contrārius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}