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Origin and history of opposite

opposite(adj.)

late 14c., "placed or situated on the other side of (something)," from Old French opposite, oposite "opposite, contrary" (13c.), from Latin oppositus "standing against, opposed, opposite," past participle of opponere "set against," from assimilated form of ob "in front of, in the way of" (see ob-) + ponere "to put, set, place" (see position (n.)).

The meaning "contrary in character, of a totally different nature" is from 1570s. As a noun from late 14c., "the opposite side of" (a place, the body, etc.), "an opposite position or condition." From early 15c. as "that which is opposite in character or quality;" also "an opponent." As a preposition from 1758. As an adverb from 1817. Related: Oppositely.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to opposite

position(n.)

late 14c., posicioun, as a term in logic and philosophy, "statement of belief, the laying down of a proposition or thesis," from Old French posicion "position, supposition" (Modern French position) and directly from Latin positionem (nominative positio) "act or fact of placing, situation, position, affirmation," noun of state from past-participle stem of ponere "put, place." Watkins tentatively identifies this as from PIE *po-s(i)nere, from *apo- "off, away" (see apo-) + *sinere "to leave, let" (see site). But de Vaan identifies it as from Proto-Italic *posine-, from PIE *tkine- "to build, live," from root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home" (see home (n.)).

The meaning "place occupied by a person or thing" especially a proper or appropriate place, is from 1540s; hence "status, standing, social rank" (1832); "official station, employment" (1890). The meaning "manner in which some physical thing is arranged or posed, aggregate of the spatial relations of a body or figure to other such bodies or figures" is recorded by 1703; specifically in reference to dance steps, 1778, to sexual intercourse, 1883. Military sense of "place occupied or to be occupied" is by 1781.

op-ed(adj.)

by 1931, in reference to the page of a newspaper opposite the editorial page, usually devoted to personal opinion columns and criticism. The thing itself dates to 1921 at the New York "World" and was the brainchild of editor Herbert Bayard Swope, whose op-ed pages launched the celebrity of many of the Algonquin Round Table writers.

ob-

word-forming element meaning "toward; against; before; near; across; down," also used as an intensive, from Latin ob (prep.) "in the direction of, in front of, before; toward, to, at, upon, about; in the way of; with regard to, because of," from PIE root *epi, also *opi "near, against" (see epi-).

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    alternate
    "following each other by turns, reciprocal," 1510s, from Latin alternatus "one after the other," past participle of alternare "to do first one thing then the other; exchange parts," from alternus "one after the other, alternate, in turns, reciprocal," from alter "the other" (see
    antonym
    "an antithetical word," 1867, coined to serve as opposite of synonym, from Greek anti "opposite, against" (see anti-) + onym "name" (from PIE root *no-men- "name"). Perhaps introduced to English in the book "Synonyms and Antonyms" (1867) by the Ven. C.J. Smith, M.A. UNDER the he
    opposition
    late 14c., opposicioun, an astrological term for the situation of two heavenly bodies exactly across from one another in the heavens, from Old French oposicion (12c.) and directly from Latin oppositionem (nominative oppositio) "act of opposing, a placing against," noun of action
    contrary
    mid-14c., "opposite, opposed, at the opposite point or in the opposite direction; extremely unlike, most unlike," from Anglo-French...contrarie, Old French contrarie, and directly from Latin contrarius "opposite, opposed; contrary, reverse," from contra...The contrary, however, does not exclude the opposite, but includes it as its most extreme form....But to apply the opposite to a mere contrary (e.g. to I did not hit him in relation to I hit him, which has no opposite),...
    antipodes
    late 14c., "persons who dwell on the opposite side of the globe;" from 1540s as "country or region on the opposite side of...the earth," from Latin antipodes "those who dwell on the opposite side of the earth," from Greek antipodēs, plural of antipous..."with feet opposite (ours)," from anti "opposite" (see anti-) + pous "foot" (from PIE root *ped- "foot")....at noon in the opposite direction, from Greek anti- + skia "shadow."...
    antarctic
    late 14c., antartyk "opposite to the north pole" (adj.), from Old French antartique, from Medieval Latin antarcticus, from...Greek antarktikos "opposite the north," from anti- "opposite" (see anti-) + arktikos "arctic" (see arctic)....
    negative
    late 14c., "a prohibition" (a sense now obsolete), also "absence, nonexistence; opposite," from Old French negatif and directly...Sense of "that side of a question which denies what the opposite side affirms" is from 1570s....Photographic sense of "image in which the lights and shades are the opposite of those in nature" is recorded by 1853....
    opponent
    "one who opposes, an adversary, an antagonist," 1580s, from noun use of Latin opponentem (nominative opponens), present participle of opponere "oppose, object to," literally "set against, set opposite," from assimilated form of ob "in front of, in the way of" (see ob-) + ponere "
    reciprocal
    1570s, "existing on both sides, exclusive or interchangeable" (of duties, etc.), with -al (1) + stem of Latin reciprocus "returning the same way, alternating," from pre-Latin *reco-proco-, from *recus (from re- "back;" see re-, + -cus, adjective formation) + *procus (from pro- "f
    polar
    1550s, "from or found in the regions near the poles of the Earth," from French polaire (16c.) or directly from Medieval Latin polaris "of or pertaining to the poles," from Latin polus "an end of an axis" (see pole (n.2)). By 1816 as "of or pertaining to a pole or poles of a spher

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