contro Italian · revision 37769

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1180–1210, anonymous poem from Ravenna|origins=itc-pro *komteros}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkon.tro/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''contro''' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ The older form [[roa-oit|contra]] survives in archaic and literary use.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(GDLI|3, 694)

+ Old texts also have [[roa-oit|contr’]], [[roa-oit|cuntra]] and [[roa-oit|dicontro]], among other spellings.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|roa-oit|contra]], [[inh|la|contra|alt=contrā|t=opposite, against]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(GRADIT 2003) The form in -a is well represented in the dialects, and in southern Italy it is the usual one, while DEI finds the -o of the standard word hard to explain.^(DEI|1084) The GDLI connects it with the Latin doublet [[m|la|contrō-]], seen in [[controversia]].^(GDLI|3, 694)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The word is pan-Romance: [[fr|contre]], [[oc|contra]], [[ca|contra]], [[es|contra]] and [[pt|contra]], with [[ro|către|t=towards]] in a changed sense.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin preposition is an old ablative of an adjective: de Vaan and Wiktionary reconstruct [[itc-pro|*komteros|t=the other of two who meet, opposite]], from the root of [[la|cum|t=with]] ([[ine-pro|*ḱom-]]) and the contrastive suffix also found in [[m|la|intrā|t=inside]] and [[m|la|extrā|t=outside]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The feminine ablative gave the Latin form in -ā, and the masculine one survives in [[m|la|contrō-]] and in [[osc|contrud|t=against]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010) Because no other branch has a matching formation, de Vaan treats it as an Italic innovation.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is an anonymous poem from Ravenna of 1180–1210.^(TLIO) DELI dates the sense “against, in opposition to” to Guido Cavalcanti (before 1300), who writes of Love ''contra cui non val forza né misura'' (“against whom neither strength nor measure avails”), and the form ''contro'' to Iacopo Passavanti in 1354.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|3, 694)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Old Italian the word covered hostility and harm, defence against a danger, action against a person or an institution in law, and contradiction of an opinion or a rule.^(TLIO) Dante used ''contra'' for motion towards something and for a position facing it, and Franco Sacchetti has ''contro'' for motion towards something before 1400.^(DELI 1999) Old texts join it to its object directly, with ''di'' or with ''a'': Boccaccio has ''contro di lui'' and ''contro alle pestilenze''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In medieval arithmetic ''contro a'' expressed multiplication of one number by another.^(TLIO)

+

+ As a noun it appears in ''il pro e il contro'', “the pros and cons”, in Giovanni Villani (before 1348).^(DELI 1999) In music of the 15th and 16th centuries ''contro'' named the contralto part, in Pulci and Savonarola.^(GDLI|3, 696) In commercial language it came to mean “in exchange for”, as in ''contro pegno'' (Carlo Cattaneo, before 1869) and ''contro assegno''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Its frequent use in fixed expressions favoured its spread as the prefix ''contro-'' (''controcorrente'', ''contromano'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1180–1210 – An anonymous poem from Ravenna has the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1300 – Guido Cavalcanti uses ''contra'' “against”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''contra'' for motion towards something and for “facing”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani writes ''il pro e il contro''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti has the form ''contro''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses ''contro'' for motion towards something.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1869 – Carlo Cattaneo writes ''contro pegno'' “against a pledge”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # [[m|en|against]]: in opposition to, hostile to, also of opponents in a match or a lawsuit: ''Domenica la mia squadra gioca contro il Torino.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Against, as [[m|en|protection]] from: ''un vaccino contro l'influenza''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Towards or into, of a movement or an impact: ''L'auto è finita contro un albero.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # In the opposite direction to: ''pedalare contro vento''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Facing, or in contact with: ''Ho spinto il divano contro la parete.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # In exchange for, in commercial language: ''spedizione contro assegno'' (cash on delivery).^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Against, contrary: ''Metà dei soci ha votato contro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''di contro'' or ''per contro'': on the other hand, by contrast.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''il pro e il contro'': the [[m|en|disadvantage|alt=disadvantages]], the case against: ''Prima di decidere pesa bene i pro e i contro.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(bridge)'' A [[m|en|double]]: ''dare il contro''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contrare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[contrario]]

+ * [[incontro]]

+ * [[controversia]]

+ * [[la|contra]]

+ * [[fr|contre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Before a stressed personal pronoun the preposition takes ''di'' (''contro di noi''), and with an unstressed pronoun it follows the verb: ''mi sono venuti contro''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ A separate technical noun ''contri'' (plural), the highest yards and square sails of a sailing ship, is a 20th-century clipping of ''controvelaccio'', ''controvelaccino'' and ''controbelvedere''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}