contra

Forms

contra^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”), a learned loan.^[2][3][4] DEX and DN name French contre and Italian contra as sources beside Latin, and Wiktionary gives all three.^[5][6][1] It is a doublet of către (“towards”), the form Romanian inherited from the same Latin word.^[1][7]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *kom-tero- (“the other of two who meet”), built on Proto-Indo-European *ḱom- (“with”).^[8] DELR likewise derives it from the root of the prefix con- and the preposition cum.^[2]

The old variant condra is from Modern Greek κόντρα (kóntra), which itself comes from Italian.^[2] DER treats it as a doublet, a card players' word, and Gáldi lists it among the Greek loans of the Phanariote period.^[4][9] South of the Danube the word is Aromanian contra or contră.^[10][11] DER and Papahagi derive them from Italian, Pascu from Modern Greek, and Papahagi compares the Greek and Albanian words.^[4][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is the adverbial phrase în contră “on the contrary” in Maior's history of 1812.^[2] Maior opposes Latin words kept south of the Danube to those kept north of it: „și, în contră, unele rămân în Dacia lui Traian” “and, on the contrary, some remain in Trajan's Dacia”.^[12] Tiktin's date of 1776 rests, according to DELR, on a misreading of contrăbontră, a form of contrabandă.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The DA calls contra the neologism corresponding to împotrivă, which it had largely replaced in the literary language while spreading among ordinary speakers.^[12] Tiktin too notes that it was gradually taking the older word's place.^[3] DER notes that it became almost a popular word, above all in în contra and a face contra “to oppose”.^[4]

The DA orders the prepositional senses as exchange (“for, in return for”, mostly in commercial language), direction (against the current or the wind) and hostility (against someone).^[12] As an adverb it means “against”, and with din or în “on the contrary”.^[12][5]

Timeline

• 1812 – în contră “on the contrary” in Maior's history.^[2][13]
• 1825 – the noun contră, in the form coantră, in the Lexicon of Buda.^[2]
• 1888 – the verb contra “to counter”.^[2]
• 1916 – încontra “to quarrel, to contradict each other”.^[2]

Meanings

Preposition

1. against, versus: in opposition to someone or something: a vota contra propunerii “to vote against the proposal”.^[5][1]
2. In exchange for another value: contra cost “against payment”.^[5][3]
3. (dated) In the opposite direction, facing: contra vântului “against the wind”.^[12]

Adverb

1. Against; in the opposite way: Toți au fost contra. “Everyone was against.”^[5][1]
2. din contra (or din contră): on the contrary.^[5][13]

Word family

• contră
• încontra
• condra

Related words

• către
• împotrivă

Usage notes

Pro și contra “for and against” is a fixed phrase, and în contra is used with the same sense as contra.^[13][3]

The combining form contra- “against, opposite” (DEX contra¹), from French contre- and Latin and Italian contra, has its own page; it forms neologisms such as contraatac and contrabalansa, and also combines with native words, as in contragreutate after French contrepoids.^[5][4]

The verb contra, contrez (DEX contra³) “to contradict; to counter, in boxing, fencing or judo; to double, at bridge” is from French contrer and is recorded from 1888.^[5][2][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. contra
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. contra
4. ^ a b c d e Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. contra
5. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 228
6. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2187
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda
10. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 305
11. ^ a b Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 206
12. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. contra
13. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 495
14. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual